In Christ, The Spirit Brings Rest, not Works

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

Alcoholism is a work of the flesh, not a disease:

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

Yet through Christ's death, our "flesh" is crucified:

"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Galatians 5: 24)

Now "flesh" speaks of more than our mere bodies, but the realm of self and self-effort. Unlike the AA program, which pretty much kills a man without giving him something better, Jesus came to give up His life for us, that our sins would be fully remitted and that we may receive His life:

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 Jon 4: 10)

and

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

Instead of living by the flesh, striving for everything, God invites us to walk by peace: in the Spirit

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

Instead of writhing in self-effort, God invites us into a never-ending Sabbath rest:

"28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11: 28)

and

"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 11)

We are not called to "keep the Spirit in us", for we have received this Spirit of adoption (Romans 8: 15), and everything with God is a gift. In Christ, the Spirit brings rest, not works.

AA Prevents You from Receiving God's Grace

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 
12.  Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Take another look at these "Twelve Steps".

If a person is really powerless over alcohol, or anything in their lives for that matter, then they need the grace of God, not a set of steps to remain in "spiritually fit condition."

This grace is a gift which we receive through Jesus Christ:

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

I do not need a connection to some "Higher Power" of my own choosing. I need a God whom I can trust in all things, and God has demonstrated His love for us through His Son:

"8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Romans 5: 8-9)

Step Three was especially confusing and ultimately dangerous for me. Was I just supposed to sit around and wait for God to tap me on the shoulder and tell me what to do? I lived in a lot of bondage for many years, often wondering if I was do the right thing or the wrong thing every day, then getting frustrated and afraid since I had no idea who to talk to or where to turn to get any guidance. Most people in the AA meetings just sit around in AA meetings all day. Those are the "revered" old-times according to many.

I could not be more disgusted.

AA prevents a person from receiving God's grace for all things most of all because the program creates a pattern of works to earn something, and with everyhing, God is a gift.

First, the Bible is clear that grace cannot be earned, but received:

"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." (Romans 11: 6)

and

"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." (Galatians 5: 4)

Steps Eight and Nine could not be more clearer examples of people trying to justify their wrongdoings. I have often read the frustration, not the joy, that people get when people come up to them and "work their Ninth step." More often than not, it's an exercise in self-righteousness, a righteousness which is contrary to the righteousness which we must receive from God through Jesus (2 Corinthians 5: 21).

Second, everything that we receive from God is a gift, but the emphasis should not be on "I can't earn it", but rather "He wants to give it."

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

and even James writes:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1: 17)

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1 Corinthians 2: 12)

Grace and righteousness are gifts. Even though the "Twelve Steps" claims "powerlessness", the bent of the steps is that we must work, work, work for the very gifts which God so freely gives.


Receive God's grace for every area of your struggle, and in Christ you will reign in life!

The Twelve Steps Creates Fault-Finding Pharisees

Religion makes people mean.

The word origin of "religion" is "bind again."

Jesus Christ did not come to bring men into bondage, but to set them free from sin, death, and the grave.

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)

and

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

Alcoholics Anonymous is a religion of self-centered self-loathing, a program of inaction which teachers members to keep taking their inventory, looking at themselves -- their thoughts, feelings, and actions -- while telling them to keep attending meetings.

People who "take their inventory" find that they are never at peace, and so they expect other people to take their inventories, as well. It makes sense once you look at it from the outside in.

How many people have I encountered in various AA meetings, and they were simply unhappy people. The ones who take the program "more seriously" end up finger-pointing at people and judging people more than those who have just started in the program, and certainly moreso than those who finally leave the program altogether.

The Twelve Steps ends up creating fault-finding Pharisees because people who really work the program are trained to look for faults in themselves all the time.

Gospel of Grace and AA Cannot Mix

I started watching Pastor Joseph Prince in 2009, just after I walked off my job and walked into Celebrate Recovery.

I was so lost in those days. I was empty and frustrated on the inside, trying to focus on Jesus Christ and also trying to live a godly life.

I had no knowledge or understanding of God's grace or the gift of righteousness, both of which we are called to keep receiving (Romans 5:17).

As long as we do not allow the soft heart of "Good News" to beat within us, we will be hardened to the message of "rest and receive."

"I would go to the Celebrate Recovery meeting for an hour and a half, then I would go home and watch Joseph Prince for the next half an hour. At the time, I did not realize this, but the Twelve Steps of Law was mitigating the pure Gospel of Grace in my life.

I was undone with "secret sin" shame and so in bondage to it, that I did not know what to do. I was so frightened of myself, yet I had not yet learned that I was made a new creation in Christ, that the old man was to be reckoned "dead" (Romans 6: 11).

I was still "taking my inventory", still trying to "get rid of" thoughts and feeling which Jesus Christ had already more than paid for.

You cannot accept that Jesus paid for all if you still take your inventory, convinced that you must watch over yourself and make sure not to misstep.

The Gospel of Grace cannot mix with AA. Either you will love one and hate the other, or serve one and despise the other.

I choose to live "The Let Go Life" and let His righteousness take care of me!

AA says "Not Finished"-- Jesus Said: "It Is Finished" (Extended)

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

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19: 30)

Churches are well-known for welcoming Alcoholics Anonymous meetings onto their campus grounds. Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren endorsed the Twelve Step Program but revised it and called it "Celebrate Recovery."

At first glance, it would seem that there is nothing wrong with bringing in a practical set of steps to help Christians to live out the Christian life. When a believer in Jesus Christ reads the Bible and compares the Scriptures with the "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous, he or she will find that there are so many contradictions, that a person cannot accept both Jesus and Bill W.

Here is the real issue, without pressing it any further or making it any simpler. Either Jesus died for all of our sins, or He did not. Either God is telling us the Truth, and thus we believe that He will remember our sins no more, or He does remember our sins, and believers are of all people the most miserable:

"And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

"Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." (1 Corinthians 15: 17-19)

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

Either we have been crucified with Christ, with all of our fleshly lusts, or we have not.

"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Galatians 5: 24)

The writer of Hebrews encourages everyone who believes on Jesus: "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 11)

AA says "Do not let up". Jesus said: "It is Finished." The Apostle John wrote:

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

This verse, like every verse in the first chapter of the John's First Epistle, was not written to believers, since John invites the intended audience to "have fellowship with us" (1 John 1: 3). Paul the Apostle confronted believers who were still living out sinful habits with the following:

"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6: 15-16, 19)

The Corinthians were the "wildest" church, a community of believers which needed to know and believe their new standing in Christ. Not once did Paul tell them to confess their sins or "take their inventory."

Either the believer rests in his new identity in Christ, or he does not.

Bill W. offered a "program" that does not work. Jesus is the Way, and He has finished the work (John 17: 4)

Do you believe that you have been forgiven of all your sins or not? Do you believe that you have been fully justified in Christ or not? Every member of the Body of Christ who attends AA or any other Twelve Step program must consider these questions and choose whom they will believe: AA or Jesus Christ.

AA says "Not Fininshed" -- Jesus Said "It is Finished"

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

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19: 30)

Here is the real issue, without pressing it any further or making it any easier.

Either Jesus died for all of our sins, or He did not. Either God is telling us the Truth, and we believe, that He will remember our sins no more, or He does remember our sins, and believers are of all people the most miserable:

"17And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." (1 Corinthians 15: 17-19)

Either we have been crucified with Christ, with all of our fleshly lusts, or we have not.

"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Galatians 5: 24)

Either "alcoholism" or "drunkenness" is a work of the flesh or it is disease:

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

AA says "Do not let up". Jesus said: "It is Finished."

The writer of Hebrews encourages everyone who believes on Jesus:

"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 11)

Do you believe that you have been forgiven of all your sins or not? Do you believe that you have been fully justified in Christ or not?

Bill W. offered a "program" that does not work. Jesus is the Way, and He has finished the work (John 17: 4)

Freed From the Bondage of Self. . .Through Christ

We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: "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! (AA, pg. 63)

In Christ, we are already relieved of the bondage of self:

"1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." (Ephesians 2: 1-2)

and

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

and

"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: 3-4)

Yet the "Big Book" tells members to keep looking at themselves:

When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken. (AA, pg. 86)

All of these questions about ourselves point us back to ourselves. If "self" is the big problem, than analyzing "self" will not make "self" any better.

No wonder people in AA meetings either become Pharisees of failures!

We do not, cannot make ourselves better. Our fallen nature, "the flesh", "the heart of darkness", or "the broken character of man cannot be fixed with a rinse and resolve to "keep short accounts":

"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7: 24)

As Paul declared, we need to be delivered entirely from this "body of death", and using the same body of death to try and create life is not just impossible, but immoral and inimical to breaking free of any addiction, or any perversion, or any wrongdoing.

God promises to give us a new heart (which means a new life, a new identity):

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36: 26)

In this new heart, we receive a new "self", Jesus Christ:

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

Paul's one prayer was that we would receive a greater revelation of God's love for us in Christ:

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

We are freed from the bondage of self not by focusing on ourselves to make ourselves better, but we receive Himself, Jesus Christ, who gives us life and that more abundantly (John 10: 10), and this new life through His Spirit guides us from faith to faith ( Romans 1: 17) and transforms us from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3: 18)
"