John 1:17 (Amplified) tells us, "For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth came through Jesus Christ."
The Church has been successful at leading others to Christ and getting them born-again, but we haven't been good at nourishing and maturing those new creation beings, who were given Life at the new birth. We haven't fully understood the full Truth of the removal of sin in the believer's life, which leads us to teach about curtailing sins of the flesh.
God gave the Law through Moses, in order to curtail and discipline the sins of the flesh. God did this because man was spiritually dead and had no control over his death ruled spirit. God established the Law, in order to deal with man's sins and covering those sins by the blood of bulls and goats. Grace and Truth came through Jesus and God was no longer hindered by the flesh and the sins of fleshly men. God now again had access to the Life of Christ being within mankind.
The Church has laid down rules and laws, in order to govern the sins of the flesh, but we haven't been successful in doing so. Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you, are Spirit and Life."
We've been trying to control sin in the flesh and by the flesh, which leaves us in constant turmoil. Jesus said that, "A house divided cannot stand." We've divided the spirit from the flesh and tried leading a spirit life by the rules of the flesh. This is a house that is divided. When we train up the Spirit of God in our spirit, then by faith in His Life within, we can bring the flesh into subjection to the Spirit and God's Word. Jesus said that, "The flesh conveys no benefit whatever." That's because it is constantly opposing the spirit.
The flesh has ruled most all mankind from Adam on. We've walked in the appetites and controls of the flesh for millennium. The flesh only does what it knows to do from past habits, because that's all it knows. It hears right things, but has no power to do the right things. Laws needed to be placed in the earth, with penalties for breaking them. Killing, robbing or breaking these man-made laws, results in prison time or even death. For some, the thought of penalty kept the flesh in line, but didn't work for everyone.
The Church has been dealing with the flesh, by the flesh. We've failed to teach the things and Promises of the Spirit, to the spirit. This has left the new creation spirit to remain in childlike state. The compassion we have for others who are being tormented by the appetites of their flesh, is real, but it doesn't change anything. Meaning well, we try "being there for others," but the same problems seem to constantly reoccur. That's when we decide, "It must be God's will for us to struggle in these weaknesses." We deal with spiritual problems, with the external, carnal reasoning and sympathy. The problems of the flesh are provoked by the spirit of a fallen nature.
We seldom recognize that the fleshly warfare is actually "the spiritual wickedness in high places." Sickness and disease come from the same spirit who has controlled mankind since Adam's transgression in the Garden of Eden. Oppression and depression are spiritual clouds over mankind. We've looked at these things from the point of view of the natural man, which tells us "these things are just natural." It was never God's will for His children. We've been trying to win a spiritual battle, by earthly carnal weapons, which leads to failure.
The Church doesn't have any idea about who we are and who the Father has born us to be. We believe that Heave is our home, but don't believe much else has changed in our earthly lives. We've taken a stand against sin and wrong doing, but have a difficult time holding sin at bay in our lives. When pushed hard enough with hardship, most of us will resort back to the flesh.
All the power, ability, authority, Blessing and relationship with the Father come by, and through, His Spirit being united spirit within us. When we don't have knowledge of Who is living in and through our spirit, we act and respond as mere men and women. We are helpless, if we don't have God's Wisdom and knowledge in our spirit. The flesh cannot be ruled by the flesh. Without the Holy Spirit, the flesh has no ability to do what it should. That's why God brought about the new covenant, according to Romans 7:14-25 (Amplified). Paul was raised under the Law and now is dealing with himself by the Holy Spirit's revelation of Grace. Paul writes about the Law being spiritual, but because of the Law, he is a "creature of the flesh and sold into slavery by the control of sin." There wasn't anything wrong with the Law, it was perfect, but carnal man couldn't live it perfectly by his carnal mind and simple flesh.
Paul speaks about his walk with the Lord and the Revelation Jesus gave him. He spoke about struggling to do what was right, but how the impulses of the flesh opposed him at every turn. Many will read about Paul's struggles and say, "Paul never overcame them." If you allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the Grace and Truth that came through Jesus, then you will see and hear how Paul obtained victory over sin in his life.
Paul cries out in Verse 24 saying, "Oh unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from the shackles of this body of death?" Pay attention to the Light of deliverance Paul was given in Verse 25 which says, "Oh thank God! He will! Through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the Law of sin."
Paul didn't start a new chapter, but most of us stop reading there and fail to read the rest of his letter. Paul continued answering his question (and ours too), "Who will deliver me? in Romans 8:1-4 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore (since God has delivered me through Jesus) There is now no condemnation, no adjudging of guilt or wrong for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit." It wasn't that Paul's flesh wouldn't try dictating its desires to him, but now the Holy Spirit can dictate Grace and Truth from Paul's spirit, and the spirit controls the flesh. Verse 2 says, "For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus, the Law of my new being, has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death."
Paul stopped trying to conquer sin and the flesh, by his works of the flesh. He allowed the Law of his new being, to take authority over his flesh, by the Spirit. He continues in Verses 3-4, "For GOd has done what the Law could not do, it's power being weakened by the flesh, the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit, Sending His Own Son, in the Guise of sinful flesh and as an Offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh (subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power) over all who accept that Sacrifice. So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit, our lives not governed by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit."
Before Jesus, man only had his flesh to try walking in a Spiritual Law. Man's flesh was weak in sin and couldn't live up to the perfection of the Law. Paul struggled with this very thing in his life, until he met Jesus and declared, "God has done what the Law could not it, it's [Law's] power being weakened by the flesh." Through Jesus and the fulfillment of the Promise of the Holy Spirit, we have been given Life and power over sin and death. As new creation people, we've been endued with the authority, ability, power and Wisdom of God, because His Spirit is infused with our spirit. This restoration has brought our spirit being into a place of supremacy over the flesh. Our spirit takes dominion over our carnal selves, so we can walk in the victory of Jesus.
We've missed so much Truth, concerning what Jesus did for us. We sing, shout, lift our hands and listen to a 30 minute "Feel Good" sermon on Sunday, and then we fall under the same things the world walk in the next day. We declare "None are righteous, no not one" and moan about how "We're so unworthy" or "That's just how things are." We don't learn to contain our vocabulary. We aren't selective about what we hear and say and walk like none of God's Promises are True.
We've mostly been taught from people who are led by the carnal mind, instead of the new creation. This isn't saying that they're not good people or don't have good hearts. But, we haven't been weaned from milk to meat, from baby to maturity and from flesh to Spirit. We run into the same opposition that Jesus endured from religious people, who opposed His earthly ministry. Jesus' Message was new to those who heard it and was in opposition to man's ways and ideas, which resulted in anger, disbelief, and their fear of the unknown. We haven't progress much from that time, or so it seems.
Those of us who are born-again (even if we don't understand it), are the perfection of God's new creation. The lack of understanding, doesn't disqualify us, but it does hold us back from seeing the Promise of the Spirit. The Promise has been restored and is available to all who are born-again and will simply receive it by faith. We are being perfected for a work that this world has never yet seen. We're being groomed to bring in the End Time Harvest of God's family, by and through the Super-natural Spirit of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment