The Bible invites everyone of us to enter into the life of Christ Jesus.
"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 11)
Regarding the law, the Ten Commandments, and any other ordinance which demands righteousness and obedience from man, Paul writes what the law does:
"For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." (Romans 7: 9)
The law is the ministry of death and condemnation (2 Corinthians 3: 7, 9).
The law merely magnifies that we are sinners, stopping every human being from justifying himself in comparison to others (Romans 3: 19-20)
Once we receive the gift of righteousness from Christ (Romans 5: 17), then the law is no longer necessary (1 Timothy 1: 7)
However, many Christians are still trying to improve their behavior. They believe that if they invest the right amount of time and effort in their lives, then they will be able to walk in full obedience, or at least progress toward doing so.
The truth is that we must either grow in grace, or fall into despair as we find ourselves unable to break free of any sin in our lives.
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" (Romans 5: 20)
Imagine that! God did not give the law so that man would be able to improve or perfect himself, but rather to cause the sin nature in man to become all the more manifest.
Furthermore:
"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15: 56)
Today, I submit to anyone reading, that the Twelve Step program is one more example of man's petty efforts to make man perfect, or mankind's rejection of God's perfect Gospel through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.
The more that people try to live their lives through the systems of men, the more that they will discover in themselves the strength of sin, and the death within his members.
Alcoholics Anonymous ends up creating the living dead, especially among those who trust that Jesus Christ died for all their sins, yet have not yet understood or refuse to accept that Jesus did not come just to die for our sins, but He ministers on our behalf and lives in us by the power of His Holy Spirit.
In fact, Paul warns us not to be deceived by man's systems of humility and religious effort:
"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)
Jesus did not come to help us live our lives better, but to give us life, and that more abundantly (John 10: 10)
He lives today, and seeks to assist and minister to every need that we have, even now!
"31What 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)
If you are saved, if you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins, then you do not need to strive in your efforts, for Christ lives in you (Colossians 1: 27), and He works within you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2: 13)
Yet the Twelve Step program still features prominently in our churches. Pastors permit AA meetings to convene on church campuses, and a growing number of churches have welcomed Rick Warren's Celebrate Recovery program.
I am a witness of that terrible program -- it does not work at all, and the failure rate is even worse, but thankfully fewer people attend those terrible meetings.
Regarding these rudiments of the world, Paul then counsels:
"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)
We need to understand that we have died with Christ, and that we live in Him.
There is no good thing which dwells in our flesh (Romans 7: 18), and furthermore God will have no flesh glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1: 29)
We are dead to sin, we do not identify with the flesh, but rather we are called to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5: 16), identifying with the Christ-life in us, not ourselves: our feelings, our thoughts, our selves.
We are either in Adam or in Christ. To be in Adam means to be carnally minded, and that is death (Romans 8: 6). If we want life, we need to identify with our new life, Christ Jesus, for we are seated in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2: 4-8). We are not sons of God (1 John 3: 1-3), and as far as God the Father is concerned, He has given us the spirit of adoption (Romans 8: 15). We are no longer to look at ourselves, but rather look to Christ, the author and finisher of faith (Hebrews 12: 2):
"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)
Herein. Is ---- These are two-present tense certainties.
Think about that, Beloved. You are alive in Christ. We are you still looking at yourself? Your thoughts, your feelings, your past ruminations are not you at all!
Monday, December 23, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Twelve Steppers:Trying to Be Saved By Feelings and Faith
Faith and feelings are not the same.
We are not saved by feelings. We cannot be saved by feelings, since we cannot hold or feel the Finished Work of Christ Jesus.
What is faith, per the Bible?
"1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good report." (Hebrews 11: 1-2)
We are saved by grace, which we receive by faith (Ephesians 2: 4-8).
We have to walk by faith, because Jesus cannot die again, and He cannot recreate what He did on the Cross.
When Mary found Jesus resurrected in the Garden, Jesus advised her not to grab Him (John 20: 17), and in the Gospel of Luke, we find Jesus teaching about Himself through the reading of the Word (Luke 24)
We cannot be saved by feelings, since the truth of who we are in Christ cannot be felt.
In fact, for Jesus to die again would violate God's justice, since Jesus died once for all for all our sins.
Moreover, for Jesus to die again would suggest that what He did was not enough.
Not at all. When Jesus said "It is Finished", that means the purging of our sins has been finished!
We are called to rest in what Jesus did for us, not strive every day to feel in our heads and bodies that Jesus is OK with us.
I am not ashamed to admit this truth today: I lived so much in my feelings, convinced that Jesus Christ was with me as long as I felt that He was with me.
As long as I felt at peace in my body, as long as my mind was rigorously focused on Jesus, then I was OK.
Such a mantra of religious fanaticism nearly brought me to the insane asylum. Imagine living every day convinced that what you think or feel can block your connection with God?
Such thinking is inevitable if we insist on mixing a Covenant of works with the New Covenant of grace and peace through Christ's death, resurrection, and high-priestly ministry at the right hand of God the Father.
We are not saved by feelings, but by faith, that we recognize in our hearts that Jesus has put away all our sins. When we rest in this truth, the New Covenant is fully activated in us:
"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:
We are not saved by feelings. We cannot be saved by feelings, since we cannot hold or feel the Finished Work of Christ Jesus.
What is faith, per the Bible?
"1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good report." (Hebrews 11: 1-2)
We are saved by grace, which we receive by faith (Ephesians 2: 4-8).
We have to walk by faith, because Jesus cannot die again, and He cannot recreate what He did on the Cross.
When Mary found Jesus resurrected in the Garden, Jesus advised her not to grab Him (John 20: 17), and in the Gospel of Luke, we find Jesus teaching about Himself through the reading of the Word (Luke 24)
We cannot be saved by feelings, since the truth of who we are in Christ cannot be felt.
In fact, for Jesus to die again would violate God's justice, since Jesus died once for all for all our sins.
Moreover, for Jesus to die again would suggest that what He did was not enough.
Not at all. When Jesus said "It is Finished", that means the purging of our sins has been finished!
We are called to rest in what Jesus did for us, not strive every day to feel in our heads and bodies that Jesus is OK with us.
I am not ashamed to admit this truth today: I lived so much in my feelings, convinced that Jesus Christ was with me as long as I felt that He was with me.
As long as I felt at peace in my body, as long as my mind was rigorously focused on Jesus, then I was OK.
Such a mantra of religious fanaticism nearly brought me to the insane asylum. Imagine living every day convinced that what you think or feel can block your connection with God?
Such thinking is inevitable if we insist on mixing a Covenant of works with the New Covenant of grace and peace through Christ's death, resurrection, and high-priestly ministry at the right hand of God the Father.
We are not saved by feelings, but by faith, that we recognize in our hearts that Jesus has put away all our sins. When we rest in this truth, the New Covenant is fully activated in us:
"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)
Twelve Stepping makes God so small, primarily because the whole program makes light of what Jesus did at the Cross. There is no other name under which man can be saved, and to teach men and women that they can choose their own conception of God is the height of blasphemy and foolishness.
A dangerous cult which brings untold harm to many, Alcoholics Anonymous has no place in the life of a believer. The program teaches people to rely and identify with their feelings, instead of walking by faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us at the Cross.
Trust that Jesus has paid for all your sins, and let His Spirit write God's laws within you and teach you more about Himself!
AA Creates a Sin Conscience
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." (Hebrews 10: 1-4)
I have written before that the Twelve Step program is a modern manifestation of the Old Covenant, in which man beholds demands, and if he can keep the rules, work the program, then he can be blessed.
Yet the Ten Commandments, in fact the entire law of the Old Covenant, was not given to us so that we could be righteousness, but rather to show us as sinners in need of a Savior:
"19Now 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. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3: 19-20)
Through the law, we have knowledge of sin.
Yet the law cannot make us holy:
"7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead." (Romans 7: 7-8)
and
"Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers," (1 Timothy 1: 7)
The Law was never God's best, but only came in alongside as a part of a covenant which would bring the Israelites to the end of themselves:
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" (Romans 5: 20)
and then
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (Galatians 3: 24)
So, the law conceived the knowledge of sin, and the sacrifices were provided for man to atone for his sins.
Yet Jesus came, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1: 29), has perfected us forever in our conscience (Hebrews 10: 14)
We have no reason to worry about our sins in any way, shape, and form. Because of all that Jesus did at the Cross, God invites us to reckon ourselves dead to sin, but alive in Christ through His righteousness (Romans 6: 11-12)
As long as men and women believe that they must work a program, take their inventories, and goo through the Twelve Steps in order to be sanctified, they are perpetuating a sin conscience, one in which Christians remain occupied with themselves instead of looking at Christ and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 10: 4-5)
This sin conscience is inescapable as long as we refuse to rest in the finality of the Cross. I cannot tell you the number of believers in the Body of Christ we live weak and beggarly lives (Galatians 4: 9).
I remember one man who served as a missionary to many South American communities, yet he was in bondage to habits which created frustration and bondage in his lives. For all of his knowledge about the Bible, he had never rested in the fullness and finality of all the Jesus did at the Cross!
One woman was telling me that she had stopped sharing at the Celebrate Recovery meeting. I chided her that she needed to leave altogether, because as long as anyone continues to attend and promote Twelve Step programs, they are aiding and abetting a system of beliefs which do not abide in the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9).
Another woman claimed without reserve that she was still in recovery. There was no life or sparkle to her walk. A great reserve, and a calculated respect for the petty fears and tremors of this life, marked much of her conservations with me.
Whatever happened to the blessed hope of Paul's declarations in Romans 8?:
"36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
I have written before that the Twelve Step program is a modern manifestation of the Old Covenant, in which man beholds demands, and if he can keep the rules, work the program, then he can be blessed.
Yet the Ten Commandments, in fact the entire law of the Old Covenant, was not given to us so that we could be righteousness, but rather to show us as sinners in need of a Savior:
"19Now 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. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3: 19-20)
Through the law, we have knowledge of sin.
Yet the law cannot make us holy:
"7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead." (Romans 7: 7-8)
and
"Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers," (1 Timothy 1: 7)
The Law was never God's best, but only came in alongside as a part of a covenant which would bring the Israelites to the end of themselves:
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" (Romans 5: 20)
and then
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (Galatians 3: 24)
So, the law conceived the knowledge of sin, and the sacrifices were provided for man to atone for his sins.
Yet Jesus came, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1: 29), has perfected us forever in our conscience (Hebrews 10: 14)
We have no reason to worry about our sins in any way, shape, and form. Because of all that Jesus did at the Cross, God invites us to reckon ourselves dead to sin, but alive in Christ through His righteousness (Romans 6: 11-12)
As long as men and women believe that they must work a program, take their inventories, and goo through the Twelve Steps in order to be sanctified, they are perpetuating a sin conscience, one in which Christians remain occupied with themselves instead of looking at Christ and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 10: 4-5)
This sin conscience is inescapable as long as we refuse to rest in the finality of the Cross. I cannot tell you the number of believers in the Body of Christ we live weak and beggarly lives (Galatians 4: 9).
I remember one man who served as a missionary to many South American communities, yet he was in bondage to habits which created frustration and bondage in his lives. For all of his knowledge about the Bible, he had never rested in the fullness and finality of all the Jesus did at the Cross!
One woman was telling me that she had stopped sharing at the Celebrate Recovery meeting. I chided her that she needed to leave altogether, because as long as anyone continues to attend and promote Twelve Step programs, they are aiding and abetting a system of beliefs which do not abide in the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9).
Another woman claimed without reserve that she was still in recovery. There was no life or sparkle to her walk. A great reserve, and a calculated respect for the petty fears and tremors of this life, marked much of her conservations with me.
Whatever happened to the blessed hope of Paul's declarations in Romans 8?:
"36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
"37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. " (Romans 8: 36-37)
We do not worry about being led as lambs to the slaughter, because Jesus, the Lamb of God, died on the Cross, removing all our sins (Colossians 2: 13). He became sin that we would receive His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5: 21), and every other good thing with Him (Romans 8: 31-32)
However, if we do not receive Him as our full and final sacrifice, we cannot receive from Him anything else:
"6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (James 1: 6-8)
I submit that James was exhorting his fellow Jewish brethren not to mix covenants. We are no longer under law, and thus no longer any apprehension of guilt or fear, because the Father of Lights has given us Jesus, the Light of the world (John 8: 12), to die for our sins, rise for our justification, and intercede on our behalf until He comes again.
In Hebrews 12, the writer invites everyone of us to put aside every sin which weighs us down. Why? Because all our sins have been paid for in full, forever, and thus we no longer need hold onto any sense of sin conscience in our lives.
For us to have any fear of wrongdoing, or to carry about ourselves a sense of guilt and shame is to insult what Jesus has done for us, and by extension to argue that He did not complete a perfect work (John 17: 3-4).
Twelve Steppers Say: Jesus Did Not Finish It
There is no freedom from a sin conscience as long as we define ourselves by our sins and continue to confess our sins, as if our confession, our profession, or anything else that we do can keep us one step ahead of our sins.
We are not just sinners, but we are dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2: 1-2)
When Jesus died on the Cross, He announced to the world once and for all forever: "It is Finished." (John 19: 30)
With Alcoholics Anonymous, men and women learn every week that the work is not finished, that the sickness of alcoholism will plague them for the rest of their lives, and without the Twelve Steps, meetings, and work with other alcoholics, they will drink again.
Empirical literature, personal accounts, and field research accounts confirm that people can get clean and sober with AA, and in fact the program-cult initiated by Bill Wilson.
One pastor commented very powerfully, and I could not agree more, that for every believer, every child of God who believes that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the Cross for our sins and was raised for our justification -- yet every believer who insists on attending AA meetings or Celebrate Recovery meetings is basically saying that what Jesus did was not enough.
When He said "It is Finished" -- He was not expressing some hollow opinion. When He declared that the work was done, He was not making a mere suggestion, or giving
If you believe that you have to attend any program, or participate in any cult, which claims that you must confess your sins, work steps, attend meetings, and work with other people in order for them to adopt the same program, then you are insulting God the Father and denying Jesus Christ the right to sit down at the right hand of the Father at rest.
We must never forget that Jesus Christ sat down not because He is God, for that will never change, but because He finished the work of purging all our sins:
"11And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." (Hebrews 10: 11-13)
I write this again: for any Christian, for anyone who claims that Jesus Christ is his or her Lord and Savior, yet at the same time claims that the Twelve Steps helps perfect our walk with Christ - those people are testifying by their actions that what Jesus did was not enough. They are saying that Jesus does not have a right to sit down at rest, and therefore the unrest of sin and strife should remain in our lives.
The more that I meditate on the power of Christ's blood at the Cross, which cleanses (present tense!) us from all sin and unrighteousness (1 John 1: 7), the angrier I get with anyone who pushes Twelve Steps of any form in our churches and on any Christian. Nothing could be more dangerous to the walk of righteousness and grace which Jesus offers to us:
"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (Galatians 5: 9)
Paul was as subtle as a machete in third chapter: "O foolish Galatians!" -- there is nothing more foolish, or dangerous, than adding one thing, one work, any extras to what Jesus did for us at the Cross.
The moment we want to do or say or think anything to fulfill or perfect our righteous standing before God the Father, we are not walking in the truth, and we are negating all that Jesus did for us at the Cross.
Jesus gave Himself for us, and with Him we can receive all things. He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, as well as sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1: 30) What gives anyone the idea that Jesus is not enough?
The Twelve Steps, which I was raised in as a child, infused in my Christian walk as a norm that in addition to reading our Bibles, we need to read the Twelve Steps, work a program, and make the most to live a Christian life in our efforts.
Today I write emphatically: Alcoholics Anonymous is an offensive, insulting cult which tramples on the blood of Jesus, and the consequences for people who proudly define themselves by this program instead of resting in the Finished Work of Christ Jesus:
"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10: 29)
Before this dire warning (for those who recognized Jesus as Messiah yet were not yet willing to rest in the finality of His work at the Cross), the writer of Hebrews writes:
"26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. " (Hebrews 10: 26-27)
Can you imagine walking around with a sense of fear and retribution in your life? I did. I have lived with the sense of unending foreboding and fear, and I had no idea why for so long. After growing up in a household where I had prayed over my meals for years, where I had been going to church, and I had been reading the Bible daily, I still had not full revelation or rest in the finality of what Jesus Christ did for me at the Cross.
Terrible, but true.
The more that I meditate on what Jesus has done, not just for me but for everyone in the world (John 3:16; 1 John 2: 1-2), the more I realize how wicked and dangerous is the Twelve Step cult.
And blasphemous, too. To think that what Jesus did at the Cross is not enough: that is a great evil which is still bringing many precious saints into bondage.
We are not just sinners, but we are dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2: 1-2)
When Jesus died on the Cross, He announced to the world once and for all forever: "It is Finished." (John 19: 30)
With Alcoholics Anonymous, men and women learn every week that the work is not finished, that the sickness of alcoholism will plague them for the rest of their lives, and without the Twelve Steps, meetings, and work with other alcoholics, they will drink again.
Empirical literature, personal accounts, and field research accounts confirm that people can get clean and sober with AA, and in fact the program-cult initiated by Bill Wilson.
One pastor commented very powerfully, and I could not agree more, that for every believer, every child of God who believes that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the Cross for our sins and was raised for our justification -- yet every believer who insists on attending AA meetings or Celebrate Recovery meetings is basically saying that what Jesus did was not enough.
When He said "It is Finished" -- He was not expressing some hollow opinion. When He declared that the work was done, He was not making a mere suggestion, or giving
If you believe that you have to attend any program, or participate in any cult, which claims that you must confess your sins, work steps, attend meetings, and work with other people in order for them to adopt the same program, then you are insulting God the Father and denying Jesus Christ the right to sit down at the right hand of the Father at rest.
We must never forget that Jesus Christ sat down not because He is God, for that will never change, but because He finished the work of purging all our sins:
"11And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." (Hebrews 10: 11-13)
I write this again: for any Christian, for anyone who claims that Jesus Christ is his or her Lord and Savior, yet at the same time claims that the Twelve Steps helps perfect our walk with Christ - those people are testifying by their actions that what Jesus did was not enough. They are saying that Jesus does not have a right to sit down at rest, and therefore the unrest of sin and strife should remain in our lives.
The more that I meditate on the power of Christ's blood at the Cross, which cleanses (present tense!) us from all sin and unrighteousness (1 John 1: 7), the angrier I get with anyone who pushes Twelve Steps of any form in our churches and on any Christian. Nothing could be more dangerous to the walk of righteousness and grace which Jesus offers to us:
"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (Galatians 5: 9)
Paul was as subtle as a machete in third chapter: "O foolish Galatians!" -- there is nothing more foolish, or dangerous, than adding one thing, one work, any extras to what Jesus did for us at the Cross.
The moment we want to do or say or think anything to fulfill or perfect our righteous standing before God the Father, we are not walking in the truth, and we are negating all that Jesus did for us at the Cross.
Jesus gave Himself for us, and with Him we can receive all things. He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, as well as sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1: 30) What gives anyone the idea that Jesus is not enough?
The Twelve Steps, which I was raised in as a child, infused in my Christian walk as a norm that in addition to reading our Bibles, we need to read the Twelve Steps, work a program, and make the most to live a Christian life in our efforts.
Today I write emphatically: Alcoholics Anonymous is an offensive, insulting cult which tramples on the blood of Jesus, and the consequences for people who proudly define themselves by this program instead of resting in the Finished Work of Christ Jesus:
"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10: 29)
Before this dire warning (for those who recognized Jesus as Messiah yet were not yet willing to rest in the finality of His work at the Cross), the writer of Hebrews writes:
"26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. " (Hebrews 10: 26-27)
Can you imagine walking around with a sense of fear and retribution in your life? I did. I have lived with the sense of unending foreboding and fear, and I had no idea why for so long. After growing up in a household where I had prayed over my meals for years, where I had been going to church, and I had been reading the Bible daily, I still had not full revelation or rest in the finality of what Jesus Christ did for me at the Cross.
Terrible, but true.
The more that I meditate on what Jesus has done, not just for me but for everyone in the world (John 3:16; 1 John 2: 1-2), the more I realize how wicked and dangerous is the Twelve Step cult.
And blasphemous, too. To think that what Jesus did at the Cross is not enough: that is a great evil which is still bringing many precious saints into bondage.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Alcoholics Anonymous: The Way of Cain
Instead of resting in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, mankind is forever seeking ways through their own efforts to be righteousness.
In the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they dressed themselves in fig leaves, in order to cover up their shame.
Their actions are an example of self-righteousness.
When Cain and Abel offered their sacrifices to the Lord God, Cain offered some of his harvest, while Abel offered a lamb.
God respected Abel's sacrifice, which included blood-shed, but he rejected Cain's, which witnessed to his efforts as a farmer. For the record, Cain did not give the best of his harvest, either:
"3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering." (Genesis 4: 3-5)
Cain brought "of the fruit". Abel brought "of the firstlings". Abel brought the best, and Cain brought the rest.
The rest will always witness of how weak and beggarly elements of our works.
The Way of Cain is a religious spirit, one in which man insists on relying on his efforts to please God, to make himself righteousness, when he should rest in the righteousness of God, paid for the blood of Jesus.
Our righteousness works are as filthy rags to God:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64: 6)
There is nothing that we can do in our efforts. In fact, when we understand the full extent of "filthy rags", we must accept that even our efforts to cleanse us are not only useless, but our efforts actually make us more filthy.
Alcoholics Anonymous is based on the false and evil premise that through his own efforts, man can achieve a better standing of righteousness.
From the AA book, following the list of the Twelve Steps:
Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. (AA, pg 60)
The Holy Spirit has perfected us forever, by the way (Hebrews 10: 14) so automatically this hollow assertion in the Big Book is not just patently offensive, but a corrosive evil which as brought millions into bondage.
Jude, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, shared the following:
"4For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 4)
and then
"11Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." (Jude 11)
The way of Cain is the way of self-effort, of self-righteous rage which persecutes anyone and anything which promotes the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- that through His death, through the shedding of blood, we receive the forgiveness of sin.s and justification before God.
There is no Twelve Steps which can make us righteous. There are no steps at all which can make us righteousness:
"Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." (Exodus 20: 26)
The mention of steps connects with man's nakedness, the first source of shame for Adam and Eve. Every time we attempt to take steps to get to God, our nakedness, our shame, our sin is exposed further.
The way of Cain, the attempt by man to acquire righteousness, ends in death, and AA is one more cult which promotes this terrible path.
In the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they dressed themselves in fig leaves, in order to cover up their shame.
Their actions are an example of self-righteousness.
When Cain and Abel offered their sacrifices to the Lord God, Cain offered some of his harvest, while Abel offered a lamb.
God respected Abel's sacrifice, which included blood-shed, but he rejected Cain's, which witnessed to his efforts as a farmer. For the record, Cain did not give the best of his harvest, either:
"3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering." (Genesis 4: 3-5)
Cain brought "of the fruit". Abel brought "of the firstlings". Abel brought the best, and Cain brought the rest.
The rest will always witness of how weak and beggarly elements of our works.
The Way of Cain is a religious spirit, one in which man insists on relying on his efforts to please God, to make himself righteousness, when he should rest in the righteousness of God, paid for the blood of Jesus.
Our righteousness works are as filthy rags to God:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64: 6)
There is nothing that we can do in our efforts. In fact, when we understand the full extent of "filthy rags", we must accept that even our efforts to cleanse us are not only useless, but our efforts actually make us more filthy.
Alcoholics Anonymous is based on the false and evil premise that through his own efforts, man can achieve a better standing of righteousness.
From the AA book, following the list of the Twelve Steps:
Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. (AA, pg 60)
The Holy Spirit has perfected us forever, by the way (Hebrews 10: 14) so automatically this hollow assertion in the Big Book is not just patently offensive, but a corrosive evil which as brought millions into bondage.
Jude, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, shared the following:
"4For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 4)
and then
"11Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." (Jude 11)
The way of Cain is the way of self-effort, of self-righteous rage which persecutes anyone and anything which promotes the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- that through His death, through the shedding of blood, we receive the forgiveness of sin.s and justification before God.
There is no Twelve Steps which can make us righteous. There are no steps at all which can make us righteousness:
"Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." (Exodus 20: 26)
The mention of steps connects with man's nakedness, the first source of shame for Adam and Eve. Every time we attempt to take steps to get to God, our nakedness, our shame, our sin is exposed further.
The way of Cain, the attempt by man to acquire righteousness, ends in death, and AA is one more cult which promotes this terrible path.
Monday, December 9, 2013
AA Makes You Look At Yourself -- Look at Jesus Instead!
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)
This program is so evil.
Making people look at themselves to maintain their program -- there is nothing but despair and frustration for a person who wakes up every day, convinced that they must look out for this disease of alcoholism from rising up to curse and condemn us.
Frankly, despite all of the Bible reading and writing which I had engaged in my life, I spent much of my time looking at my thoughts, my feelings, my fears.
God was a distant consideration much of the time.
No one had ever taught me that God is taking care of everything in my life. No one had ever taught me that all I have to do I believe on Him.
My knowledge, my understanding of God, and how good He is, was so flawed, so marred, so limited.
Why? Because my conception of God was based predominantly on the Twelve Steps, Alcoholics Anonymous.
I did not see how good God is.
We cannot understand Him as long as we do not believe that we are righteous.
This righteousness is an ultimate gift:
"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)
We are made the - THE - righteousness of God in Christ. When we believe on Jesus Christ (John 6: 29), we are taken from dead in our trespasses to alive and seated in heavenly places in Him (Ephesians 2: 4-6)
We should not be looking at ourselves, to begin with, because we are not in ourselves, but in Christ.
Paul tells us to look above, to God the Father and the Son seated at His right hand (Colossians 3:1-4)
For the past few weeks, I have begun to notice how much time I spent looking at myself, looking at my resources, convinced that whatever I needed depended entirely on me.
I have been reading my Bible for a long time. I have been learning more and more about the grace of God in Christ, and that I have been freed from the law, and that God is a god to me not because of my obedience, but because of Christ's obedience on our behalf, since He is my High Priest forever (Hebrews 7: 16)
All of this thinking, righteous believing, is quite new for me, but I am glad for this new journey, one which is upending all the lies and distortions which I was forced to learn and accept because of the crappy, evil AA cult.
For a long time, I would not come to God and ask for help, because whenever I struggled with negative thinking, I would spend so much time trying to feel better, or to change what I was thinking. If a sense of shame sprung up in my mind because I was not focusing on Jesus, then I would get fearful and worried and look at myself and try to fix my thinking, my feeling, my words, my everything else.
There is no peace in looking at ourselves. There is nothing but peace as we look more and more at the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9: 6)
Look to Christ, not yourself, and be transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18)
This program is so evil.
Making people look at themselves to maintain their program -- there is nothing but despair and frustration for a person who wakes up every day, convinced that they must look out for this disease of alcoholism from rising up to curse and condemn us.
Frankly, despite all of the Bible reading and writing which I had engaged in my life, I spent much of my time looking at my thoughts, my feelings, my fears.
God was a distant consideration much of the time.
No one had ever taught me that God is taking care of everything in my life. No one had ever taught me that all I have to do I believe on Him.
My knowledge, my understanding of God, and how good He is, was so flawed, so marred, so limited.
Why? Because my conception of God was based predominantly on the Twelve Steps, Alcoholics Anonymous.
I did not see how good God is.
We cannot understand Him as long as we do not believe that we are righteous.
This righteousness is an ultimate gift:
"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)
We are made the - THE - righteousness of God in Christ. When we believe on Jesus Christ (John 6: 29), we are taken from dead in our trespasses to alive and seated in heavenly places in Him (Ephesians 2: 4-6)
We should not be looking at ourselves, to begin with, because we are not in ourselves, but in Christ.
Paul tells us to look above, to God the Father and the Son seated at His right hand (Colossians 3:1-4)
For the past few weeks, I have begun to notice how much time I spent looking at myself, looking at my resources, convinced that whatever I needed depended entirely on me.
I have been reading my Bible for a long time. I have been learning more and more about the grace of God in Christ, and that I have been freed from the law, and that God is a god to me not because of my obedience, but because of Christ's obedience on our behalf, since He is my High Priest forever (Hebrews 7: 16)
All of this thinking, righteous believing, is quite new for me, but I am glad for this new journey, one which is upending all the lies and distortions which I was forced to learn and accept because of the crappy, evil AA cult.
For a long time, I would not come to God and ask for help, because whenever I struggled with negative thinking, I would spend so much time trying to feel better, or to change what I was thinking. If a sense of shame sprung up in my mind because I was not focusing on Jesus, then I would get fearful and worried and look at myself and try to fix my thinking, my feeling, my words, my everything else.
There is no peace in looking at ourselves. There is nothing but peace as we look more and more at the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9: 6)
Look to Christ, not yourself, and be transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Supremacy of Scripture, not AA
This new revelation is really opening my eyes.
For years -- years! -- I was convinced that the AA book would assist my understanding of the Word of God.
I was raised to believe that the AA book would make the Bible practical.
What a bunch of lies.
Which came first: the Bible, or Alcoholics Anonymous?
The Bible, of course!
Now, what do we learn about the Word of God? Paul writes:
"16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3: 16-17)
The Word of God is our standard, the Word of God is profitable for everything that we need for training, life, and godliness.
When we learn more about God's righteousness, then we receive more of His grace in our lives.
And what does the grace of God do for us?
"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)
Could anything be more practical than that?
Paul also shared what the grace of God did for him:
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15: 10)
The grace of God means nothing if we do not understand and believe that Jesus has paid for all our sins (Colossians 2: 13)
Indeed, He has, and He has also spoiled every enemy who would take us down (Colossians 2:15). In Christ, we receive glory and triumph, too (2 Corinthians 2: 14)
The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4: 12), and we are called to live by every word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Matthew 4: 4)
Alcoholics Anonymous claims to rely on Biblical principles, as it quotes passages about being reborn (AA, pg 63) and the Scripture "faith without works is dead" (AA, pg 76). Yet by incorporating Scripture, then one must assume that the writers esteemed the Bible. Yet if the AA writers esteem the Word of God, we discover that there can be no other God then He who has been from the Beginning: Yahweh, who sent His Beloved Son Jesus Christ to reconcile mankind to Himself (2 Corinthians 5: 17-19).
There can be no talk about my or your conception of God, and since this Jesus died on the Cross for all our sins and gave us His life, then there can be no use for the Twelve Steps, since they speak merely of the rudiments of the world.
The supremacy of Scripture is unassailable (John 10: 35), and the Scripture testifies of our life in Christ. Therefore, AA is not only unnecessary, but downright fraudulent and dangerous. The program wars against the Supremacy of Christ and Him Crucified and the Word of God.
The Bible could not be more practical, in that as we read the Word of God, we grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18) the grace and truth which sets us free and makes us able and willing servants of the New Covenant!
For years -- years! -- I was convinced that the AA book would assist my understanding of the Word of God.
I was raised to believe that the AA book would make the Bible practical.
What a bunch of lies.
Which came first: the Bible, or Alcoholics Anonymous?
The Bible, of course!
Now, what do we learn about the Word of God? Paul writes:
"16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3: 16-17)
The Word of God is our standard, the Word of God is profitable for everything that we need for training, life, and godliness.
When we learn more about God's righteousness, then we receive more of His grace in our lives.
And what does the grace of God do for us?
"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)
Could anything be more practical than that?
Paul also shared what the grace of God did for him:
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15: 10)
The grace of God means nothing if we do not understand and believe that Jesus has paid for all our sins (Colossians 2: 13)
Indeed, He has, and He has also spoiled every enemy who would take us down (Colossians 2:15). In Christ, we receive glory and triumph, too (2 Corinthians 2: 14)
The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4: 12), and we are called to live by every word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Matthew 4: 4)
Alcoholics Anonymous claims to rely on Biblical principles, as it quotes passages about being reborn (AA, pg 63) and the Scripture "faith without works is dead" (AA, pg 76). Yet by incorporating Scripture, then one must assume that the writers esteemed the Bible. Yet if the AA writers esteem the Word of God, we discover that there can be no other God then He who has been from the Beginning: Yahweh, who sent His Beloved Son Jesus Christ to reconcile mankind to Himself (2 Corinthians 5: 17-19).
There can be no talk about my or your conception of God, and since this Jesus died on the Cross for all our sins and gave us His life, then there can be no use for the Twelve Steps, since they speak merely of the rudiments of the world.
The supremacy of Scripture is unassailable (John 10: 35), and the Scripture testifies of our life in Christ. Therefore, AA is not only unnecessary, but downright fraudulent and dangerous. The program wars against the Supremacy of Christ and Him Crucified and the Word of God.
The Bible could not be more practical, in that as we read the Word of God, we grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18) the grace and truth which sets us free and makes us able and willing servants of the New Covenant!
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