Hitting bottom is about much more than trying something different.
In Christ, we are called to stop trying altogether.
We are not called to live the Christian life, just as we were never called to live out the law in our lives.
"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)
and
"But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3: 25)
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 designed, brought back to its pristine perfection by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount, so that men and women would despair of trying to earn their righteousness by works, and thus receive it by faith.
One of the greatest perversions in the Body of Christ is the mantra of "keep trying" and "keep going" - we do not live of ourselves anymore, but in Christ we are dead and hidden in Christ (Colossiasn 3: 3-4)
When we quit trying, then the grace of God can live in us, and then we start living:
"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." (Galatians 2: 20)
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Cannot Forgive if Not Forgiven
Many people in AA are told that the work is never finished, that Alcohol is a "subtle foe", and therefore we cannot rest.
Our feelings become a part of ourselves that we must respond to and manage.
For the believer, peace is the standard, the inheritance that we receive from Him:
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14: 1)
then
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14: 27)
Now, our hearts will remain troubled as long as we are convinced that in order to enjoy God's lavish forgiveness, we must still "do something".
The New Covenant, however, has nothing to do with 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:
"And 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.
"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.: (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
"I will be to them a God"-- do we often sit down and think on this massive Truth? He takes care of us inside out, and therefore our job is to believe, to rest in this truth, allowing His grace to flow and lead us in our walk.
In fact, God has already created us, and created in us the works that He wants us to do:
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 10)
We walk in these works, for God is before us and behind us through His Son:
"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians1:16-18)
Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, and through His Spirit we receive His presence and power over our lives, and we can know and believe that wherever we go, He is there blessing and securing us through all things. Our job is to believe, to rest, which means that we must renew our minds to this truth (Romans 12: 2), growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord.
The more that we see all that God has done for us, even taking our painful past into a palatial present, then we receive the grace to forgive and release the hurts of others, receiving that we are set free from having to do anything in order to have righteousness, peace, and joy in our lives.
Forgiveness is easy when you keep seeing Jesus and all that He has done for you! In fact, you find that you rejoice in the hardships, knowing and believing that He is already turning those hardships into Lordship on your part.
Our feelings become a part of ourselves that we must respond to and manage.
For the believer, peace is the standard, the inheritance that we receive from Him:
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14: 1)
then
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14: 27)
Now, our hearts will remain troubled as long as we are convinced that in order to enjoy God's lavish forgiveness, we must still "do something".
The New Covenant, however, has nothing to do with 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:
"And 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.
"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.: (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
"I will be to them a God"-- do we often sit down and think on this massive Truth? He takes care of us inside out, and therefore our job is to believe, to rest in this truth, allowing His grace to flow and lead us in our walk.
In fact, God has already created us, and created in us the works that He wants us to do:
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 10)
We walk in these works, for God is before us and behind us through His Son:
"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians1:16-18)
Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, and through His Spirit we receive His presence and power over our lives, and we can know and believe that wherever we go, He is there blessing and securing us through all things. Our job is to believe, to rest, which means that we must renew our minds to this truth (Romans 12: 2), growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord.
The more that we see all that God has done for us, even taking our painful past into a palatial present, then we receive the grace to forgive and release the hurts of others, receiving that we are set free from having to do anything in order to have righteousness, peace, and joy in our lives.
Forgiveness is easy when you keep seeing Jesus and all that He has done for you! In fact, you find that you rejoice in the hardships, knowing and believing that He is already turning those hardships into Lordship on your part.
How To Forgive: Rest and Receive Him!
This set of posts has been generating in my Spirit for a long time.
I have often wondered why people have a hard time when it comes to forgiving people when they have been harmed.
I know for my part that I had often struggled with forgiving other people.
I would fault myself over and over for letting people get away with hurting me, convinced that if I had only been a little more diligent, a little more vigilant, then I would never have gotten hurt in the first place.
Ironically, that stance of self-defense and punch back is a big problem, the very source of upset which brings people into bondage, the source of condemnation which causes us to hurt ourselves all the more.
Why do people have a hard time letting go, forgiving others?
In some cases, like my own, I was convinced that I had to adopt and maintain an attitude of peace and calm in my life.
Yet the Bible teaches very differently:
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" (Romans 5: 1)
and then
"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5: 5)
Peace comes to us because Jesus Christ is our peace (Ephesians 2: 14).
In fact, the New Covenant simply has nothing to do with 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:
"And 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.
"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
It's all about what God will do -- because man could never keep the key elements of the Old Covenant. That's why God found fault with it.
Yet this New Covenant is based on grace, pure, unmerited favor from God.
He is watching over us, He is living within us, for by His grace, we are what we are -- more than conquerors -- in Christ (Romans 8: 37)
So, what is it about forgiving people that seems so difficult. Forgiving people, honestly, has nothing to do with us:
"And be ye kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake
hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4: 32)
Many believers do not have the full understanding of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. John shared this revelation:
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." (1 John 3: 1)
Before that, let us take in the fullness of Jesus as our Sacrifice:
"My 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:
"And 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)
Most people do not get the full gravity of this good and wonderful gift. Paul explains it thus:
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;" (Colossians 2: 13)
All our trespasses. And His blood keeps on cleansing us:
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1: 7)
Yet knowing that we are forgiven of our sins is not enough, for then we may still look at ourselves with reserve and caution, trying to make sure that we do not sin.
Paul then shares what else has happened for us believers:
"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;" (Ephesians 2: 1)
and
"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2: 6)
We are now in Christ, who is our life (Colossiasn 3: 4)
"20I 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." (Galatians 2: 20)
God through Christ has reconciled us to Himself, and in Him we area new creation (2 Corinthians 5: 17)
We are now a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2: 9), kings in Christ -- and that is why Jesus is King of Kings!
So, the grace of God not only forgives us of all our sins, but transforms us into children of God, having the same standing as Jesus:
"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)
We are also called to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 2: 18).
This grace abounds in our lives even when we sin (Romans 5: 20). When others sin against, we receive more grace:
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)
So, let me get back to formulating the struggles that I had with letting things go.
First of all, I believed that the feelings that I had, I had to do something about, whether they were fears or resentments. This was a terrible teaching which came to me through the AA cult, which teaches its members that they must deal with resentment, the "Number One Offender".
In Christ, we are called to reckon ourselves dead, yet 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)
Resentmenst, tumults, upsets are all sin, works of the flesh (Galatians 5: 19-21). Strangely enough, then, all of our unrest is based on the lie that we must "do something" about our feelings, as if our peace and joy depend on us.
The Word teaches otherwise:
"17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14: 17)
The Holy Spirit is a promise (Acts 2: 33), a gift which Jesus promised that the Father wanted to give to us (Luke 12: 32)
This Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8: 15) we receive by grace through faith - we hear the Word and believe it! That is the one "work" that we are called to do (John 6: 29)
The problem for me, as for others, is that we have been taught that we must do for God, when it truth God is the one who is working in us (Philippians 2: 12-13)
.
He has put His laws in our hearts and our minds. We do not have to have a set of feelings and thoughts in order to access God's gracious guidance in our lives.
The biggest stumbling block for many Christians, is the concept of rest:
"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
"For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 9-11)
We are called to receive all the blessings of God through His Son, who is our life. We do nothing of ourselves, but rather abide in Him, for He is the Vine, and we are the branches (John 15: 4). Many believers have a real problem with this because they are still receiving the mixed message that Jesus died for our sins but we are on our own to live the Life on earth, when He has given us His life. We give God such short shrift in our walk on earth.
And thus we come to the crux of the problems when it comes to forgiveness. We "feel bad" about what others have done to us, as if we have to "do something" about those issues. In fact, we are called to stand in faith (Ephesians 6: 16), resisting the devil.
"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." (James 4: 6-10)
We are called to rest in the growing revelation that everything has been taken care of us for us. God through His Son is greater than our pains, our sorrows, or traumas, our trials, our past, our present, our future. He takes our harships and enhances our Sonship. He takes the pain and turns it into gain, for He receives glory in taking every time we fall, that He can lift us up! We are called to submit ourselves to God. We do this to the extent that we receive the greater revelation of all that Jesus Christ did for us at the Cross:
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
"He 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)
The trick for many believers is to accept that everything is taken care of:
"I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John 17: 4)
and
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 10)
and
"For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4: 3)
Being a Christian is all about Christ - and I Am Nothing - Christ-I-A-N.
When we let Him live through us, trusting that His Spirit leads us into all victory, the let-go life of trust and faith takes over, as we no longer look at ourselves and look at Him, who is making all things work for our good:
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." (Colossians 3: 1)
For this reason, David prophesied that his flesh would "rest in hope":
"Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:" (Acts 2: 26)
Imagine the blessedness of God Almighty, who now provides his Perfect Peace, His Son, that by resting in Him, His grace may flow in our lives.
This same grace flows all the more as we forgive those who have hurt us. In fact, we also find that as we let go of harships, knowing that indeed God makes all things work for our good, then we can step into our lives, trusting that he is covering us from before and behind, with nothing but belief on Him to quicken us to behave as He would have us.
I have often wondered why people have a hard time when it comes to forgiving people when they have been harmed.
I know for my part that I had often struggled with forgiving other people.
I would fault myself over and over for letting people get away with hurting me, convinced that if I had only been a little more diligent, a little more vigilant, then I would never have gotten hurt in the first place.
Ironically, that stance of self-defense and punch back is a big problem, the very source of upset which brings people into bondage, the source of condemnation which causes us to hurt ourselves all the more.
Why do people have a hard time letting go, forgiving others?
In some cases, like my own, I was convinced that I had to adopt and maintain an attitude of peace and calm in my life.
Yet the Bible teaches very differently:
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" (Romans 5: 1)
and then
"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5: 5)
Peace comes to us because Jesus Christ is our peace (Ephesians 2: 14).
In fact, the New Covenant simply has nothing to do with 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:
"And 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.
"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
It's all about what God will do -- because man could never keep the key elements of the Old Covenant. That's why God found fault with it.
Yet this New Covenant is based on grace, pure, unmerited favor from God.
He is watching over us, He is living within us, for by His grace, we are what we are -- more than conquerors -- in Christ (Romans 8: 37)
So, what is it about forgiving people that seems so difficult. Forgiving people, honestly, has nothing to do with us:
Many believers do not have the full understanding of what Jesus did for us on the Cross. John shared this revelation:
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." (1 John 3: 1)
Before that, let us take in the fullness of Jesus as our Sacrifice:
"My 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:
"And 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)
Most people do not get the full gravity of this good and wonderful gift. Paul explains it thus:
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;" (Colossians 2: 13)
All our trespasses. And His blood keeps on cleansing us:
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1: 7)
Yet knowing that we are forgiven of our sins is not enough, for then we may still look at ourselves with reserve and caution, trying to make sure that we do not sin.
Paul then shares what else has happened for us believers:
"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;" (Ephesians 2: 1)
and
"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2: 6)
We are now in Christ, who is our life (Colossiasn 3: 4)
"20I 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." (Galatians 2: 20)
God through Christ has reconciled us to Himself, and in Him we area new creation (2 Corinthians 5: 17)
We are now a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2: 9), kings in Christ -- and that is why Jesus is King of Kings!
So, the grace of God not only forgives us of all our sins, but transforms us into children of God, having the same standing as Jesus:
"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)
We are also called to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 2: 18).
This grace abounds in our lives even when we sin (Romans 5: 20). When others sin against, we receive more grace:
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)
So, let me get back to formulating the struggles that I had with letting things go.
First of all, I believed that the feelings that I had, I had to do something about, whether they were fears or resentments. This was a terrible teaching which came to me through the AA cult, which teaches its members that they must deal with resentment, the "Number One Offender".
In Christ, we are called to reckon ourselves dead, yet 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)
Resentmenst, tumults, upsets are all sin, works of the flesh (Galatians 5: 19-21). Strangely enough, then, all of our unrest is based on the lie that we must "do something" about our feelings, as if our peace and joy depend on us.
The Word teaches otherwise:
"17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14: 17)
The Holy Spirit is a promise (Acts 2: 33), a gift which Jesus promised that the Father wanted to give to us (Luke 12: 32)
This Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8: 15) we receive by grace through faith - we hear the Word and believe it! That is the one "work" that we are called to do (John 6: 29)
The problem for me, as for others, is that we have been taught that we must do for God, when it truth God is the one who is working in us (Philippians 2: 12-13)
.
He has put His laws in our hearts and our minds. We do not have to have a set of feelings and thoughts in order to access God's gracious guidance in our lives.
The biggest stumbling block for many Christians, is the concept of rest:
"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
"For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 9-11)
We are called to receive all the blessings of God through His Son, who is our life. We do nothing of ourselves, but rather abide in Him, for He is the Vine, and we are the branches (John 15: 4). Many believers have a real problem with this because they are still receiving the mixed message that Jesus died for our sins but we are on our own to live the Life on earth, when He has given us His life. We give God such short shrift in our walk on earth.
And thus we come to the crux of the problems when it comes to forgiveness. We "feel bad" about what others have done to us, as if we have to "do something" about those issues. In fact, we are called to stand in faith (Ephesians 6: 16), resisting the devil.
"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." (James 4: 6-10)
We are called to rest in the growing revelation that everything has been taken care of us for us. God through His Son is greater than our pains, our sorrows, or traumas, our trials, our past, our present, our future. He takes our harships and enhances our Sonship. He takes the pain and turns it into gain, for He receives glory in taking every time we fall, that He can lift us up! We are called to submit ourselves to God. We do this to the extent that we receive the greater revelation of all that Jesus Christ did for us at the Cross:
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
"He 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)
The trick for many believers is to accept that everything is taken care of:
"I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John 17: 4)
and
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 10)
and
"For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4: 3)
Being a Christian is all about Christ - and I Am Nothing - Christ-I-A-N.
When we let Him live through us, trusting that His Spirit leads us into all victory, the let-go life of trust and faith takes over, as we no longer look at ourselves and look at Him, who is making all things work for our good:
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." (Colossians 3: 1)
For this reason, David prophesied that his flesh would "rest in hope":
"Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:" (Acts 2: 26)
Imagine the blessedness of God Almighty, who now provides his Perfect Peace, His Son, that by resting in Him, His grace may flow in our lives.
This same grace flows all the more as we forgive those who have hurt us. In fact, we also find that as we let go of harships, knowing that indeed God makes all things work for our good, then we can step into our lives, trusting that he is covering us from before and behind, with nothing but belief on Him to quicken us to behave as He would have us.
Brought Up in AA -- Brought Out By Christ
The more that I look back on the whole debacle, the more I realize how brainwashed I had become because of the whole AA program.
From a little kid on, I was taught the Twelve Steps, I was taught to take my inventory, I was told that if I got angry or upset, it was my fault, that it was a resentment that I had to work out in my life.
I lived a good part of my life rehearsing these steps, only to find that time and again I was still angry, hurt, selfish, and frightened. Those steps did not work!
Indeed, human beings have "living problems" as one guy in a meeting would harp over and over again. These living problems, however, do not go to the root of the problem, which is that without God living in us, we are forever dead in our trespasses. Adam and Eve walked in perfect fellowship with God, filled with His Spirit. When they sinned, eating form the Forbidden Tree, they forfeited their fellowship with God, and instead the god of this world, Satan who had fallen like lightning from heaven (Luke 10: 18).
The same temptation that brought down man and creation -- the Law -- is the same perversion which keeps believers in bondage in the Body of Christ, who have not yet known or believed that through Jesus' death on the Cross, the Old Covenant of Law and Sacrifice has grown old and vanished away in the New Covenant of God's grace through His Son (Hebrews 8: 13)
AA points the "prospect" back into self-introspection. There is no glory or transformation in looking at oneself. By beholding the Lord Jesus Christ in His Word, we are transformed from glory to glory by His Spirit (2 Corinthians 3: 18).
I can still remember how my mother would have my sister and me sit down as she would read from the "Big Book" justifying everything that she was doing in our lives, including taking us away from our father and putting us up in an apartment on the other side of town. Granted, things were not going well in the household at the time, and my mom was often talking about how angry she was, that she just wanted to punch somebody.
She was a walking, squawking advertisement for why not to take AA. The program, for all of its promises, comes up short time and again. How many meetings have I witnessed where frustrated and hurting men and women go to a meeting, just to find more frustration and hurt? I cannot tell you how much clawing and scratching I had to deal with when I sat in on those meetings.
And why did I keep going to those meetings? It was the only pattern, the only tradition that I had known in my formative years, beyond the church-going, where the full payment of all that Christ had done on the Cross for me had not yet been revealed.
What a shame! The Gospel is so simple -- that Jesus Christ has paid it all. Our revelation of this truth depends more on our letting go of the "old ideas", including empty, faulty AA and the Twelve Step program. In a sense, there are no steps as their is a grand reception, in which God seats us in heavenly places with His Son.
The more steps that people make to get to God, the more steps that one actually takes away from Him, for He is nearer to us than our next breath. Like Adam and Eve, we get in the habit of getting away from Him by simply not taking him at His Word.
I was brought up, or rather brought down, in AA. The program takes life rather than giving members a new shot at life. The program tells people to take these steps, and your life will get better, yet at the same time the program is based on coming to the meetings as much as possible.
The Twelve and Twelve talks about people who never quite get back on their feet once they work the program. Maybe they no longer drink, but they have little else to help them out.
I was inundated with AA. The people in the program even created a calendar with little child-like drawings illustrating the Twelve Steps. My mom had nothing else to work with, besides the steps, and the steps take one nowhere but into oneself.
I was brought up in AA -- Christ brought me out and into His life!
From a little kid on, I was taught the Twelve Steps, I was taught to take my inventory, I was told that if I got angry or upset, it was my fault, that it was a resentment that I had to work out in my life.
I lived a good part of my life rehearsing these steps, only to find that time and again I was still angry, hurt, selfish, and frightened. Those steps did not work!
Indeed, human beings have "living problems" as one guy in a meeting would harp over and over again. These living problems, however, do not go to the root of the problem, which is that without God living in us, we are forever dead in our trespasses. Adam and Eve walked in perfect fellowship with God, filled with His Spirit. When they sinned, eating form the Forbidden Tree, they forfeited their fellowship with God, and instead the god of this world, Satan who had fallen like lightning from heaven (Luke 10: 18).
The same temptation that brought down man and creation -- the Law -- is the same perversion which keeps believers in bondage in the Body of Christ, who have not yet known or believed that through Jesus' death on the Cross, the Old Covenant of Law and Sacrifice has grown old and vanished away in the New Covenant of God's grace through His Son (Hebrews 8: 13)
AA points the "prospect" back into self-introspection. There is no glory or transformation in looking at oneself. By beholding the Lord Jesus Christ in His Word, we are transformed from glory to glory by His Spirit (2 Corinthians 3: 18).
I can still remember how my mother would have my sister and me sit down as she would read from the "Big Book" justifying everything that she was doing in our lives, including taking us away from our father and putting us up in an apartment on the other side of town. Granted, things were not going well in the household at the time, and my mom was often talking about how angry she was, that she just wanted to punch somebody.
She was a walking, squawking advertisement for why not to take AA. The program, for all of its promises, comes up short time and again. How many meetings have I witnessed where frustrated and hurting men and women go to a meeting, just to find more frustration and hurt? I cannot tell you how much clawing and scratching I had to deal with when I sat in on those meetings.
And why did I keep going to those meetings? It was the only pattern, the only tradition that I had known in my formative years, beyond the church-going, where the full payment of all that Christ had done on the Cross for me had not yet been revealed.
What a shame! The Gospel is so simple -- that Jesus Christ has paid it all. Our revelation of this truth depends more on our letting go of the "old ideas", including empty, faulty AA and the Twelve Step program. In a sense, there are no steps as their is a grand reception, in which God seats us in heavenly places with His Son.
The more steps that people make to get to God, the more steps that one actually takes away from Him, for He is nearer to us than our next breath. Like Adam and Eve, we get in the habit of getting away from Him by simply not taking him at His Word.
I was brought up, or rather brought down, in AA. The program takes life rather than giving members a new shot at life. The program tells people to take these steps, and your life will get better, yet at the same time the program is based on coming to the meetings as much as possible.
The Twelve and Twelve talks about people who never quite get back on their feet once they work the program. Maybe they no longer drink, but they have little else to help them out.
I was inundated with AA. The people in the program even created a calendar with little child-like drawings illustrating the Twelve Steps. My mom had nothing else to work with, besides the steps, and the steps take one nowhere but into oneself.
I was brought up in AA -- Christ brought me out and into His life!
"The Fires Will Put Themselves Out"
I was on a roll.
I started telling more people about
what AA did to me, or how the program works you into the grave rather than
bringing you up out of yourself.
Then I met a former heroin addict,
Ned. who as a third-generation recipient of AA dogma. His grand-parents
and his parents all had "worked" the program.
For him, the whole set up rubbed him
the wrong way.
He protested saying "The Lord's
Prayer" at the end of every meeting, and the other people in the room
started to give him a hard time.
He had a sponsor who lectured him
and belittled him on how to live his life, yet Ned had run a business while
tripped up as an addict. His "sponsor" presumed to lord over Ned his
greater number of years of sobriety, but Ned refused to play along.
Good for him. But I have also
learned that none of us really have anything to boast about, but our weakness
and infirmity (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)
I was glad to be talking to more
people who had left the "program" and find life -- and perhaps that
more abundantly, outside of the confines of the four walls.
Then he told me about a counselor,
one who treated him with respect and dignity, regardless of his drug or
previous affiliations. She did remind him, as is true for every human being,
that if Ned gave up the drugs, he would have to find something else to attach
to.
We were made for love, not just to
love, but to receive this love, and God alone is the all-encompassing
never-ending love that we need! Christ is the sign and certainy of this love,
dying for our sins and granting us His Everything by making us one with Him!
And all that I have to do is believe, a hard call for many people, who have
been taught to rely on self.
He also shared with me that he was a
very angry man, one who felt that he was going to hit or kill someone. I have
been there, the intense feelings ofv unret snad rage which I could do nothing
about, until I started to realize that I did not have to do anything about them
in the first place! He takes care of me, regardless of how I feel. My thoughts
and feelings do not block God from working in my life. In fact, my trying to
feel and thing a certain way frustrates God's grace in my life.
The biggest issue in my life, the
upsets and resentments that had assaulted me for much of my life, were starting
to calm down. While the program teaches adherents to stomp out every fire by
confessing the upset then doing something good for somone else, the Bible
teaches every believer use the shield of faith (Ephesians 6: 16) to quench the
fires of the Enemy.
I loved what Ned told me next:
"The fires will put themselves out."
I could not agree more!
Freed From the Bondage of Self! Rejoice!
Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. (AA. pg. 63)
This revelation must be shouted from the roof-tops!
How can we presume to ask God to remove from us the bondage of self, then assert that focus once again on ourselves to do his will?
Let's take another look at the "Third Step Prayer":
"God, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!"
The focus is still on the very person from whom we wish to be set free -- self!
What does "thy power" or "thy love" mean? "Thy way of life?" Do not settle for so little:
"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 is the Way, not just a way, and the Life, not just a way of Life! And that's the Truth!
On another note -- What is the will of God for us, in Christ Jesus? Paul lets us in on this powerful truth in his first letter to the Thessalonians:
"Rejoice evermore.
"Pray without ceasing.
"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18)
Why do we rejoice? Paul outlines the power of the Gospel for us:
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 16-17)
In Romans 4, Paul outlines the blessed gift of the Gospel:
"4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,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: 4-8)
We can rejoice in all the good that God has done for us:
"I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John 17: 4)
and
"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
"For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
"For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4: 1-3)
People in AA are taught to be careful about their feelings. They have to deal with their fears and resentments, self-centeredness and self-seeking natures. In effect, in trying to rid themselves of themselves, they focus on themselves all the more!
Yet in all of their attention to taking their inventory and dealing with their feelings, all of that introspection brings us into greater bondage!
Instead of trying to fix ourselves, let us rest in our new life in Christ:
"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)
Just as Christ is not more under death, so we who are in Christ are no longer under death, either, but live in Him, who is our life (Colossians 3: 4)
This revelation must be shouted from the roof-tops!
How can we presume to ask God to remove from us the bondage of self, then assert that focus once again on ourselves to do his will?
Let's take another look at the "Third Step Prayer":
"God, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!"
The focus is still on the very person from whom we wish to be set free -- self!
What does "thy power" or "thy love" mean? "Thy way of life?" Do not settle for so little:
"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 is the Way, not just a way, and the Life, not just a way of Life! And that's the Truth!
On another note -- What is the will of God for us, in Christ Jesus? Paul lets us in on this powerful truth in his first letter to the Thessalonians:
"Rejoice evermore.
"Pray without ceasing.
"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18)
Why do we rejoice? Paul outlines the power of the Gospel for us:
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 16-17)
In Romans 4, Paul outlines the blessed gift of the Gospel:
"4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,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: 4-8)
We can rejoice in all the good that God has done for us:
"I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John 17: 4)
and
"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
"For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
"For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4: 1-3)
People in AA are taught to be careful about their feelings. They have to deal with their fears and resentments, self-centeredness and self-seeking natures. In effect, in trying to rid themselves of themselves, they focus on themselves all the more!
Yet in all of their attention to taking their inventory and dealing with their feelings, all of that introspection brings us into greater bondage!
Instead of trying to fix ourselves, let us rest in our new life in Christ:
"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)
Just as Christ is not more under death, so we who are in Christ are no longer under death, either, but live in Him, who is our life (Colossians 3: 4)
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
In Christ, We Are Freed from the Bondage of Self
Free me from the bondage of self, that I may better do thy
will.
Working twelve steps, confessing one’s sins, going through
the motions of doing good works for others – none of this can deliver us from
the body of death which keeps us in bondage.
We need to be delivered from self into a new life entirely!
It’s not enough to get rid of self – we must also get
receive Himself!
And Himself is about Him giving us all of Himself:
"When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with
devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that
were sick:
"That it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our
infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. " (Matthew 8: 16-17)
"Himself" took it all. And in the Word, when Jesus met with Cleopas and wife on the road to Emmaus:
"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself." (Luke 24: 27)
We cannot help but see ourselves as nothing in the presence
of one who gave Himself for us:
"He 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: 32)
I was so caught up in being self-centered, I wanted not to
be self-centered.
The problem with self-centeredness is that you end up being self-centered all the more in trying not to be self-centered. Hence the drama that Paul found himself in:
"For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." (Romans 7: 19)
Like many people, I fond myself looking at my feelings as the final arbiter of truth and peace in my life, yet feelings inevitable connects to what we are doing. It focuses on us all over again. When we look at our thoughts, we
get depressed and frustrated because we are identifying with our flesh instead
of with His Spirit.
Faith is about resting in the truth of all that God has done
for us through His Son Jesus Christ.
Consider once again the new Covenant:
"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:
"And 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.
"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
We rest because the New Covenant has nothing to do with us. Notice how it's all God: "I will. . .I will. . .I will" –
the moment that we falsely believe that we have to do something in order to
access this grace, then it is no more grace, and we in fact frustrate the grace
of God in our lives!
I am learning that resting has nothing to do with me –
that’s why it’s rest – resting from my efforts to get anything done. The moment
that I believe that I have to “do something” in order to rest, then I am doing
something, and thus I am not resting.
It seems confusing at first, mostly because of those of us who have been raised on AA for so long, we have grown introspective with taking our inventory and talking about our feelings all the time. We do need to freed from the bondage of self, but we cannot do that ourselves! A belief in a "God as I understand Him" is not adequate either, since "self" is all caught up in our understanding of God. Paul explained how he received the Gospel:
"But I certify you,
brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
"For I neither
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1: 11-12)
Christ is not a teaching, not a set of ideas, not a way of living, but God in the flesh, and Life itself for all who believe and are willing to receive Him!
Our life is hid in Christ, therefore let us rest in our new identity in Him, who sets us free (John 8: 36).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)