John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
It's difficult to open the eyes that have had a veil over them for so many years. Only God, by His Holy Spirit, can bring the entrance of His Word and Light, into the hearts of His family. We've been taught the religion of the world for so long, it's hard to learn the True Gospel of Liberty in Jesus. We've been told there's a list of things we must do, in order to earn God's Blessing, that it seems unreal to think that we've had it all along.
2Corinthians 3:14-17 (Amplified) says, "In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused, they had become dull and lost the power of understanding; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies on their hears, not being lifted to reveal that in Christ it is made void and done away with. Yes, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their minds and hearts. But whenever a person turns in repentance to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom)."
Most of us were never under the Law of Moses, but the same veil has covered our hears and minds, by having that Law read and reread to us, over the years. We were born into liberty, but have allowed ourselves to be brought into this same bondage. We keep trying to be good enough to deserve God's Blessing and trying to earn it by works. When we make a mistake, we try doing something good, in order to appease God and get back in His favor.
Grace means different things to different people. Some believe that you can do whatever you want and Grace will cover it. Other believers think we must do works, in order to obtain God's Grace and favor. We are called to abstain from things we know are sin, but this isn't what Grace is about. Grace is not about giving into sin whenever you want and Grace will cover it.
Understanding Grace requires the Holy Spirit's revealing to you, that there is nothing left for you to do, but believe that "In Jesus, it is finished." Jesus has done all that God requires of us, on our behalf and He has done it perfectly. It's not about what we must do, but what we must know. We cannot believe, what we don't know and understand. We've lacked understanding, concerning the work of Jesus and Redemption. Under the old covenant, man was required to perform certain things, in order to obtain the Blessing and Promise. Under the new covenant, we're only to believe that Jesus Christ has already met all those requirements for us and then simply trust in His Sacrifice. Some believe this is too easy and they wish to add to Jesus' Perfection.
When we lack understanding about our family relationship and God's Promise to us through Jesus, we won't know Who we're to set our hope, faith and belief on or even what we're to believe. Our new covenant depends entirely on God's viewpoint. We're to simply have faith in His Grace and the Finished Work of Christ and then accept God's Love and Promises. We've struggled with healing, praying in tongues, Righteousness, prayer, peace and so many other things, because we haven't understood that these things are already ours and have been provided for us, in Jesus. We keep trying to find a way of making God do these things for us, without realizing that He already has, in Jesus.
The great sin that Jesus bore, was the sin that separated us from God at the fall of man, in the Garden of Eden. We lost fellowship, Life, Blessing, because the sin of death created a barrier between us and God, that only Jesus could tear down and return Life and family back to the Father. All the sins of the flesh sprang from the first of sin death, which entered into Adam at the fall. When the barrier of sin was broken, God could now, through the Holy Spirit, be in contact with the spirit of man and be one with us again.
God no longer needed to deal with mankind from the outside and by man's own obedience and goodness, but He could once again deal with us, by and through, our spirit, like He did with Adam, before the fall and like He did with Jesus, during His earthly ministry. Part of the veil that covers our hearts and minds, is that we still expect God to correct and discipline us, according to how He dealt with the old covenant saints. God's will for mankind was never do bring death, hardship or withhold His Blessing, because of the weakness of the flesh. Mankind was never to been in the position, where we lived and walked by our senses, but by our spirit. Jesus redeemed us back to that place and restored us back into the Image and Likeness of the Father.
We've never been taught how to live by our spirit, but we've been trained mostly by the Law, even if we're unaware of it. We haven't understood the new covenant we were born into and haven't dared to expect God's Promises to manifest and belong to us here, because of our flesh and it's imperfections. This is why it had to be by faith, that it might be by Grace. It's not what we do, but what we know.
It's nearly impossible to walk in God's Promises for us, if we don't know that they are for us and that, "All these Promises are "Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus to God's Glory for us." With Jesus, everything we think we need, is already done. We must only receive them, by faith in His Work for us. This is Grace. It's not that we deserved or earned them by our own goodness, but that Jesus purchased them for us, by His Goodness.
Even though satan couldn't keep us from being born-again, he still managed to keep us in his bondage, by blinding us with the same veil that blinded those under the Law. We felt like "They weren't for us, because we don't deserve them." This has mostly left the Church impotent of power and joy. Many Christians have let the Promise of the Spirit be lost to them, because they've lacked understanding. We've had ears, but haven't heard and eyes, but haven't seen the Truth of Grace. So many riches of Grace haven't been received by God's people, because we never knew they were ours. The evil one has held us in bondage to his will. We never knew we were in bondage, so we never accepted our liberty.
Hebrews 12:1 (Amplified) says, "Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have borne testimony to the Truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance, unnecessary weight and that sin which so readily and deftly and cleverly clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us."
I believe that the sin, Paul writes about in the above scripture, is the sin of unbelief. It's what God was speaking about, when He said those in the Wilderness didn't enter His Rest, because of unbelief. It wasn't that God hadn't made the way and provided the need, but they wouldn't believe His Promises. Unbelief is simply not trusting in God and His Promises to us. The traps and lies of the enemy uses, "deftly and cleverly cling to and entangle us and keep us from entering into God's Rest.
Unbelief is a choice we make, because we don't understand what God's will, His Promises and His covenant have granted to us, in Jesus. No true believer in Jesus Christ, would deliberately choose something they think might not be God's will for them, so we choose not to believe or initiate unbelief in that thing. You can't put faith in something you don't understand about God's Will and His Word for you. It's a choice we make. It's not disbelief, but it's unbelief. You can be a believer and still operate in unbelief.
No comments:
Post a Comment