Free from the dominion of Sin !

To be free from the dominion of sin there are two vital truths that we must understand and  believe . The first truth is found in Romans 8:14. For sin will not have dominion over you for you are no longer under the law but under grace. Now this scripture is really as plain as the nose on your face! If you want to be free from the dominion of sin then you must see yourself dead to the law and fully under grace. Grace and not the law is the only way that we will ever be free from the  dominion of sin. The law could never set anyone free from the power of sin in fact the bible says that the law actually gave strength to sin 1 Corinthians 15:56 says The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. . If you still see your self under the law then sin will still dominate your life but if you see yourself  dead to the law and alive only to Christ and under grace  then sin will loose its grip in your life , sin will no longer have dominion in your life.

Much of the church has dedicated themselves to sin accountability programs and sin management programs but we have not been called to manage sin but to be free from sin.

To be free from the dominion of sin , not only do we need to see ourselves dead to the law but we also need to see ourselves dead to sin or dead to our old sin nature.

Romans 6:3-7 confirms this truth  “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him , that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin

You see that ? it says it right there in black and white! For he that is dead is free from sin! Now what do you mean dead? dead to what? it means that we are now to see ourselves dead to the old nature and now fully alive in Christ!

Have you ever heard someone use the expression ” You are dead to me ! ” I mean the first time I heard that I though ” well that’s a little harsh! for someone to say ” you are dead to me they are in essence saying that you no longer exist to me ! you are dead to me ! but then it dawned on me! This is how God wants us to see our old sin nature . It is dead to us ! Our old sin nature no longer exists! it has been completely taken out of the way and a new resurrected nature that is now in full union with Christ has been put in the old natures place.

2 Corinthians 5:17 confirms this truth. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation old things have passed away and all things have now become new!

Now as Christians we need to believe Gods word over our feelings. and the word tells us plainly that when Christ died our old sin nature died with Him . So how do we understand this? We understand it by faith ! Hebrews 11:3 tells us that it’s through faith that we receive understanding . To many want to understand before they will believe , but in Gods kingdom it works different. God tells us if we will first choose to believe Gods word over everything that we see , feel or what even makes sense that understanding will come but faith always comes first before understanding. It’s by faith we understand !

Now to the degree that we choose to confess and believe that our old nature has already died with Christ will be the degree that we will then walk free from sin and in newness of life.

The reason that most Christians still struggle with sin is because they still don’t believe the old nature is dead and gone ! Many believe that they are still just old sinners but now they are old sinners saved by grace. But this is not what the Bible teaches . The Bible teaches that we were old sinners but that we were saved by Grace, the Bible teaches that the old sin nature has already been put to death , that old things were done away and all things are now new! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Jesus often taught us that you can never mix the old and the new together ! You can’t put new wine into an old wine skin . Now I know this often refers of trying to mixi the old and new covenants or law and grace together , but I also believe it speaks of trying to mix the new nature with the old nature together ! If we think we are a mixture of the old and new nature , then we will become completely in effective in the kingdom God.

But Regardless of what the Bible teaches most still continue to be persuaded others to believe that they are still old sinners ; that they are now just forgiven sinners. Most Christians are still under the impression that their old nature is still living inside them and cage fighting with our new nature for control but this is a lie that has kept most of the church bound and shut down!

The Bible does not teach that Jesus is still duking it out with the devil or your old nature . Jesus is Lord! Jesus defeated the devil over 2000 years ago and when He died God took your old nature , put it on the body of Jesus and it died with Him! Galatians 2:20 confirms this truth.

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 )

I , that is my old nature was crucified with Christ and now the new me is Christ in me! It’s not , my old nature , my new nature and Christ all bunking in the same house fighting for control. No the old was taken out and nailed to the cross! It’s gone! gone! gone! . The quicker you believe this then the quicker you can begin to walk in the newness of life that you have already been created to be in Christ.

To believe that you still have an old nature living inside of you is like saying that Jesus and the old nature are now roommates ! But Jesus is not roommates with your old nature or the devil !. When Jesus moved into your house He didn’t tell your old nature to scoot over and make room for Him! Jesus and your old nature are not bunking together, No ! when Jesus came in He evicted the old man! in fact the old man was taken out and then put to death once and for all time. We need to understand that our old nature was crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20 ) This is a past tense deal. It has already been accomplished! Killing the old nature is not a process that we do daily. it’s has already been done ! And to teach that we have to crucify the old nature every day is simply not true. You cannot keep killing someone that has already been put to death! I mean dead is dead! It’s like trying to strangle a dead man !

What we need to do is to agree and acknowledge that our old man is dead and quit trying to put to death what is already dead!

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him , that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin (Romans 6:3-7)

What does the scripture say? Our old man is ( past tense) crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed ! If we want to be free from the dominion of sin that we have to acknowledge our sin nature dead and gone!

Because most of the church still does not understand the truth of the gospel they are still trying to manage sin through sin accountability programs . But we are not called to manage sin. We are called to be free from the dominion of sin ! Romans 6:14 says sin will not have dominion over you for you are no longer under the law but Grace.

Let me say this about the law . The Law may cause men to depart from evil but only Grace can cause evil to depart from men! What we need is not more law but abundance of Grace!

Romans 5:17 tells us as we receive abundant grace and the free gift of righteousness that we will then reign in life. This means we will begin to Reign over the things that use to reign over us!

Now many say well if the old man is gone then why do I still have urges and desires at times to sin? There are a couple of reasons for this . First it’s called the body of sin. Although your sin nature has already been evicted and you are made new in your spirit , your body and your soul still have some residue of sin that was left over from the old sin nature.

You could say it like this ” your old sin nature was not a very good tenant. When your old tenant lived in your house he tore up a bunch of stuff and when he left he also left a little stuff behind. Now this stuff and damage from the old tenant has already been taken care of in your spirit where Christ now lives but in your body and soul there still needs to be a little cleaning and fixing to be done ! But the good news is that Jesus who is now our new permanent tenant lives in us and He is cleaning and restoring everything that the old tenant messed up!

As we acknowledge that we are now righteous in Christ and new in Christ then grace who is the Spirit of Christ is then released to fix and to restore our body and soul that was damaged by our old tenant nature.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

So what we really need to understand is we are not just old forgiven sinners . Yes we are forgiven! but we have also been made new creations in Christ. The old has already passed away and all thing have been made new. Jesus is not roommates with our old nature fighting for control of the house! No Jesus is a Lord in the House! We are not a mixture of the old and new.

Mixing the old nature with the new nature is like trying to pour new wine into an old wine skin it will render you ineffective in Christ . We are not a mixture of the old nature and the new we are now new creations in Christ the old has passed away and all things have now become new and are of God (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Now another reason many still struggle with sin is that they fail to understand that they are no longer under the law but Grace. As long as people see themselves under even a pinch of the law then sin will have dominion over their lives! (Romans 6:14) Galatians 5:9 says that even a little leaven will leaven the whole lump! This leaven is not speaking of sin but law!

The law does not keep people from sinning it actually gives strength to sin! In fact the law will cause sin to actually flourish and grow! The law will cause a revival of sin in a persons life. The key to being free from the dominion of sin is not more legalistic accountability programs but it’s to be dead to the law and alive only to Grace! Grace is the power of a God that will drive sin out of a persons heart! What good is it to have accountability programs in order to control sin if the heart is still bound by sin? Accountability programs are like putting a muzzle on a mad dog! The muzzle may keep the dog from biting someone but everything in the dogs heart he still wants to do it! Gods grace and not any self effort is the only thing that will deliver men from the dominion of sin.

Again the law may make men depart from evil but it’s only grace that will make evil depart from men! The law actually gives strength to sin.

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56 ) The law is actually called the ministry of sin and death and It’s not that the law is sin but the law will cause sin to explode in in a persons life. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says about the law in Romans
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. What 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. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. Romans 7:6-9

Did you see what Paul said here? First we are now delivered from the law of sin and death so that we can now serve in newness of the spirit. Then Paul talked about how the law worked all kinds of concupiscence in Him . Also apart from the law sin is dead but when the law comes back sin is revived free from the dominion of sin we must see ourselves dead to all the law and alive only to Jesus! This law includes those big ten written in stone! 2 Corinthians 3.

So to some it up to be free from the dominion of sin we must not see ourselves a mixture of the old and new natures and we must see ourselves no longer under the law but grace. (Romans 6:14)

Now there is also another popular teaching that implies that Jesus has the devil on a leash and that He uses the devil at times to correct His kids and this is a bunch of bologna !

God is our Father and we are His children ( Galatians 4:6) our Father does not have the devil on a leash holding him back like a mad dog and then turning him loose at times to bring correction into our lives!

If we had half a brain we could see this makes no sense at all ! Let me ask you a question would you turn a mad pit bull loose on your kid to correct them or to teach them a lesson? Of course not! Then why would accuse God who is not evil at all but who is our perfect , pure and loving father of doing this?

We’ve all heard the song ” Who let the dogs out! ! ” Well it’s not God letting the dogs out ! We need to stop blaming a God for stuff that He does not do!

A couple of years ago a good friend of mine curt went up to knock on the screen door of a house and a mad pitt – bull charged right through the screen on the door, tackled my friend to the ground and tore him up ! Now this dog on a leash theology might imply that maybe it was God allowing this crazed dog to attack my friend to teach him a lesson or to bring him to repentance! No ! That wasn’t God that was a crazy Pitt-bull ! God does not sick dogs on people! the devil is the one who seeks to kill, steal and to destroy . God does not use the devil to teach people a lesson or to bring them to repentance , the bible says that it’s the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. It’s the love and the goodness of God that leads people to change their minds about God. God doesn’t have sick the dogs on us..

So let’s get it straight ! Jesus is not roommates with the devil and neither does Jesus have the devil on a leash ! God is for us not against us , He in fact is for us and loves us . You can read all about this in Romans 8:31-39

Full Assurance of Faith

Those who preach a performance based gospel often teach messages to help keep Gods  people in line, under control and on their toes ! but many who hear these performance driven messages will not leave the church feeling more confident but in fact more uncertain and in doubt wondering if God will ever really pleased with them. Many in church today still do not know if they are  really doing enough , giving enough or living right enough to really be pleasing to God. I’m mean when it really comes down to it, how much is enough ? If you were to ask the average Christian how they think that God feels about them most would say ” I’m not sure if God is really that pleased with me or not?  Most feel this way because they have been taught that pleasing God is based more on what they do instead of what has already been done for them.  Many of Gods people are full of doubt and  uncertainty about  how God really sees them or feels about them but we need to understand that uncertainty never motivates people to do more but in fact  will actually shut them down them down and will cause them to do less. People who are full of fear, condemnation uncertainty and always feeling disqualified are never motivated to do more. Fear and uncertainty will always have  a paralyzingly effect on people.

The truth is that God does not want us to be fearful or uncertain certain about our new covenant relationship with Him.  In fact He not only wants us to be confident but He wants us to be extremely confident about who we now are in Christ and  what Christ has already accomplished for us through His death , burial and resurrection .

Hebrews 10:22  says that God wants us to draw near to Him in full assurance of faith !
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

When  we are in full assurance of faith then we know and understand that God remembers our sins no more and that God is for us not against us. Today God is against any message that shifts a person from their confidence in Christ and what Christ has already accomplished for them at the cross and draws then draws them back into a place of doubt and  uncertainty . God takes no pleasure in those who shrink back from Him in fear , condemnation and uncertainty. But our father loves it when we run  to Him and jump into His lap.

We are to always draw near in full assurance of faith and never shrink back. This means that God wants us to be 100% sure and confident that we are now completely forgiven and have been declared innocent by the blood of Jesus.

Hebrews 10:1

The law was a shadow of good things to come but the law was just a shadow of the promise , it was not the promise . A Photograph is a shadow of the real tangible thing but a photograph is not the tangible thing , it’s just a picture or shadow of the real thing . I have a photograph of my wife but the photograph Is not my wife it’s just a shadow of her.. Now if when I’m around my wife I hug and kiss the photograph instead of her then their may be a problem..

The law was a shadow of the promise to come but it was not the promise. Those in the old covenant look forward by faith for the promise to come but today we have the promise . The promise has already come and His name is Jesus. Now that the promise has come we can now look back in the Old Testament kind of like an old family photo album and see the shadow of the promise that was coming hidden all through it’s pages.

We can see our family tree.,we can Look at Adam and Eve. We can look at Cain and Able , look at Noah , look at Abraham , Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets who spoke about the promise and looked forward for the promise to come. In the Old Testament we can see Jesus concealed but in the new we see Jesus revealed!

Today we have something far greater then what they had in the old . We have a new covenant and we have the promise Himself!

Today even the least in the kingdom is greater then every prophet in the old. Why ? Because they looked for the promise to come but we have received the promise (Matthew 11:11). We have also been made righteous and we been made into a new creation in Christ.(2Corinthians 5:17-21)

Today God wants us fully confident that we are forgiven, righteous and His children through faith in Jesus.
Now I have to admit before I understood the gospel of grace I use to think it was my main mission to keep people a little uncertain about their relationship with The Lord because if I didn’t then people may get to over confident, lax and then slow down in their duty and performance for God. I was under the false impression that yes we needed to encourage people but we also didn’t want them getting to confident or comfortable because they may start getting lazy and begin goofing off! But as sincere as this thinking was it was all wrong, because it was based more on performance then it was on relationship. Through the gospel of grace I now see that it’s not my job to keep people in check or uncertain about how God sees them but God wants us full of faith and assurance that we are forgiven, saved and in right standing with Him. The real truth is that this full assurance of faith will not cause us to become more lazy apathetic or slothful but in fact it will cause us to run with excitement to share it with others how good God is and what He has done for us. Case in point the once the women at the well knew she was forgiven she left her water pot and ran into town telling everyone the exciting news about Gods love and forgivness.

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him (Hebrews 10:38 KJV)

God finds no pleasure in those who shrink back in fear and uncertainty. It would be the same if you came home and instead of your kids running to you , they instead ran from you in fear!

Illst. When my grandson was first born he was a little fearful of me,because everything was brand new , he was full of uncertainty. But as time went on and he knew I was not going to harm him but just wanted to love on him all uncertainty left. Now when he sees me he runs and jumps into my arms with joy and confidence .. Our Papa God is the same way , He does not want us to be uncertain about his intentions towards us. Papa God loves us and He never wants us to shrink back in fear from him. God finds no pleasure in those who shrink back because if we shrink back then Papa can’t show His affection and love for us. Our father never wants us running from Him but always to Him.

Imm Reminded when Adam first fell into sin. The first thing Adam did was run in fear from the presence of The Lord. But it was God who came looking for Adam and it wasn’t really to scold him or condemn him but to restore him. God immediately put the plan in motion that would ultimately restore man back into right relationship with Him.

Today through the once and for all time sacrifice of Jesus , all sin has been paid for so,that we can now have a perfect clean conscience before God. This means that we can know that no matter what happens in life their is now absolutely nothing that can ever come between ourselves and God ever again . There is now no more vail and no more separation between ourselves and God. After Jesus cried ” it is finished!” The vail was torn in half giving us full assurance and access to our Father God once and for all time. Romans 8 confirms this truth.

Romans 8:31-39 KJV
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? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies . [ Who is he that condemns ? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. …

The vail was torn and we are never to allow religion to sew it back up!

God wants us to be filled with full assurance of faith that the cross and the blood of Jesus really did work! He who know no sin became sin so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him

Sit , Walk and Stand

Sit, Walk, Stand is a small book with a big message. It’s sold as a study of Ephesians, but it’s much more than that. In 78 short pages the author describes the three aspects of the believer – to God, to man, and to the enemy. The best summary of the book is the one the author provides on the last page…

“The Christian life consists of sitting with Christ, walking by him and standing in him. We begin our spiritual life by resting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus. That rest is the source of our strength or a consistent and unfaltering walk in the world. And at the end of a grueling warfare with the hosts of darkness we are found standing with him at last in triumphant possession of the field.” (p.78)

This is boot camp Christianity, the sort of book every new believer needs to read.

That said, I have just come away from my latest reading of Sit, Walk, Stand wondering how I could have missed so much good stuff the first time around. About seven years ago I got our church in Hong Kong to study this book. To be honest, we weren’t ready for it. We were wearing the wrong glasses. It is only since I have learned to read everything through the lens of Jesus and His finished work that this book really begins to make sense.

Incidentally, this is a very common experience for me – reading old books as if for the first time.

Perhaps you’re like me – you read Sit, Walk, Stand many years ago and thought it was good but not great. If so, can I encourage you to take another look? To whet your appetite, here are 12 of my favorite sound-bites from the book. (Longer quotes will appear on GraceQuotes.com.)

On Sitting

“All true spiritual experience begins from rest.” (p.27)

“Whereas God worked six days and then enjoyed His sabbath rest, Adam began his life with the sabbath; for God works before He rests, while man must first enter into God’s rest, and then alone can he work.” (p.16)

“God is waiting for your store of strength to be utterly exhausted before He can deliver you. Once you have ceased to struggle, He will do everything.” (p.23)

“Just you stop ‘giving’ and you will prove what a Giver God is! Stop ‘working,’ and you will discover what a Worker He is!” (p.25)

Our Walk

“The all-important rule is not to ‘try’ but to ‘trust,’ not to depend upon our own strength but upon his… Too many of us are caught acting as Christians. The life of many Christians today is largely a pretense. They live a ‘spiritual’ life, talk a ‘spiritual’ language, adopt ‘spiritual’ attitudes, but they are doing the whole thing themselves.” (pp.38-9)

“Too often we think that the actual doing is what matters. We have to learn the lesson of not doing – of keeping quiet for Him. We have to learn that if God does not move we dare not move… The abiding principle of all true Christian work is: ‘In the beginning God…’ … You ask me what I mean by natural power. Put very simply, it is what we can do without the help of God.” (p.67)

“Have we discovered how good the Lord is? Then in us He is as good as that! Is His power great? Then in us it is no less great! Praise God, His life is as mighty as ever, and in the lives of those who dare to believe the Word of God the divine life will be manifest in a power not one whit less mighty that was manifest of old.” (pp.39-40)

“The question is one of practical sonship. True, God has ‘foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ’ (1:5), but we make the mistake of thinking that we have already ‘come of age’ – that we are already mature sons… All will reach ripeness somehow. But the Lamb is seeking firstfruits. The ‘wise’ in the parable (of the wise and foolish virgins) are not those who have done better, but those who have done well at an earlier hour.” (pp.33,44)

Taking a Stand

“Armies march into other countries to occupy and subdue. God has not told us to do this. We are not to march but to stand. The word ‘stand’ implies that the ground disputed by the enemy is really God’s, and therefore ours. We need not struggle to gain a foothold on it.” (p.54)

“Today we do not fight for victory; we fight from victory… When you fight to get the victory, then you have lost the battle at the outset.” (p.55)

“Because victory is His, therefore it is ours.” (p.56)

“If we believe the Lord, we shall not pray so much but rather we shall praise him more. The simpler and clearer our faith in him, the less we shall pray in such situations and the more we shall praise. Let me say again: In Christ we are already conquerors. Is it not obvious then that, since this is so, for us merely to pray for victory – unless that prayer is shot through with praise – must be to court defeat by throwing away our fundamental position?” (p.57) ( Blog by Paul Ellis)

Getting off the Bus of Self Effort and Condemnation !

Condemnation will keep you in full time ministry to your self. The other day I was reminded of a little nursery song that says ” and the wheels on the bus go round and round , round and round , round and round and the wheels on the bus go round and round all day long!” The gospel of self effort will keep you going round and round in the same vicious circle of self effort , failure , condemnation and then back to self effort of trying harder and doing better all day long ! And for many all life long ! But God has a much better plan than self effort , called grace. Gods Grace will deliver us from this vicious cycle of self effort condemnation and back to more self effort . But grace only works through faith. If we are ever going to get off the vicious merry- go-round of self effort , condemnation and defeat it will take faith! But Grace only works through faith and it’s not faith in our own self effort but faith in Christ and in grace. We need to understand that when we received Jesus we not only received forgiveness of sins but we also received Jesus Himself who is grace! (Galatians 2:20) . Every born again believer has Christ ( grace) living inside them and grace desires to work in us and through us in a way that no amount of our own self effort could ever accomplish. But we must turn our faith from ourselves to grace! The key to getting off the wheels of the condemnation bus is to look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith . Jesus is also the one who promised to complete the work that He began in us . As we look to Jesus and Rest in Jesus to work then Jesus becomes actively effective in our lives. As we Rest that’s when God goes to work . We must get delivered from all our Christian self effort ways! Self effort really just gets in the way of what God wants to do in our lives.

For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Phil 2:13)

Do we want to keep striving or start thriving? The Bible says that we can only grow in grace. We cannot grow in our own self effort. Too many Christians are like shriveled up little plants because they are trying to grow in the soil of their own self efforts. Many are sweating like sinners when they should be resting like saints.if we really want to thrive and flourish in Gods kingdom then we must die to the law of our own self effort and see ourselves perfectly joined and married to The Lord. (Romans 7:4)

As we turn our eyes off of our own self effort and instead turn our eyes on Jesus , thats when Grace is then able to go to work to do in us and through us what no amount of our own sweat and self effort could ever accomplish or do. God wants us to know that there really is a much easier way then self effort and its called Grace. Grace is not just for salvation but Grace is also for transformation. We are saved by grace and we are to live by grace . We even minister by grace. I am what I am by the grace of God. Grace enables us , empowers us, equips us, enlightens us, encourages us and grace transforms us. We are to see ourselves completely yoked to grace.

The bible mentions two yokes. One is called a heavy hard yoke of bondage and one is a light and easy yoke of freedom. The heavy yoke is the law of self effort the light and easy yoke is the yoke of Gods grace. Jesus said if we would come to Him and trust in Him that He would give us a yoke that’s light and easy.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. Matthew 11:28-30
I don’t know about you but I kind of like my yoke light and easy in fact I like my yoke over easy! Im not to fond of a hard heavy yoke! Again the hard heavy yoke that Jesus and Paul spoke about was the yoke of self effort. This self effort yoke is not an easy yoke and does not lead to freedom but bondage!

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.(Galatians 5:1)

The way you know your under the heavy yoke of self effort is when you see yourself trying and striving to live for God , to serve God and to please God. Now this ” I’m doing my best to serve God” may sound very sincere and noble , but this is not the yoke of grace but of self effort. Self effort always looks sincere but the problem with self effort is that it’s looking to to self as it’s source instead of grace. Self effort will also look to the Am I ? Where as grace will always look to the I Am! Self effort will always cause us to question our relationship with The Lord . Self effort. Will say “Am I doing enough? Am I pleasing enough? Am I serving enough?” But grace looks to Jesus who is always enough! Those under the yoke of grace will say” I Am pleasing to God, I Am righteous because I Am in The I Am ! I Am just like Jesus because Jesus lives in me and I now live in Him. I don’t ever have to question my relationship with God because I’m already complete in Jesus . My right standing with God is not based upon my own self effort or performance but upon the obedience of Christ .

Romans 5:19 KJV
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

2 Corinthians 5:17,21 KJV
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 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.

The Bait and Switch Gospel

                                                                                                        Religion will often lure you in with Grace but then clobber you with the Law. But the gospel is not a bait and switch gospel! The gospel is the gospel of Gods unconditional love and grace from beginning to end! The bible says in the same way that we received Christ that we are to continue to walk in Him .How did we come in ? We came in through the gospel of grace , forgiveness and Gods unconditional love. The same way that we came in is the same way that we are to continue to walk and grow . We walk and grow In love and in Grace. Grace is not the free thing just to get us in the door! We need grace from beginning to end and all the way through!

Colossians 2:6-7 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your
faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Many retail stores will often use what they call ” the old bait and switch technique “. The way the bait and switch technique works is that a store will bait the customer with a discounted or free limited item just to get the customer in the door, but once the customer is in the door the slick sales man will then try his best to switch the customer from the free thing that brought him or her in into buying the thing that they really wanted to sell them in the first place. Now If the customer insists they do not want to purchase anything else then often times the salesman will try and make the customer feel bad or feel guilty for even coming in to claim their free item.

I remember one time while my wife and I were on vacation a time share salesman offered us free cash and some free tickets to a show if we would just spend one hour looking at their time share vacation plan. We both hesitantly agreed and took the so called free tickets with no strings attached. As agreed we did attend the one hour time share presentation and then after sat down with a seemingly nice sales person who then began to show us the the benefits of owning our own vacation plan . After the presentation my wife and I politely told the time share sales man that it looked real nice but at this time we were really not interested. Well all of a sudden this nice pleasant sales person suddenly changed from mr nice guy to this very condemning , condescending person! He  began to tell us that we were moochers who had no intention of buying anything and only came in to take advantage of the freebies! Needless to say after that  crazy experience  I told my wife I don’t care if they offer me a thousand dollars and 50 show tickets  I will never do that again!

Sad to say , Religion has often used this same bait and switch technique on Gods people as well. Religion will often preach that God loves you unconditionally and accepts you just as you are . They will often play the old song ” just as I am with out one plea” they say it’s by grace we are saved through faith and that salvation is a free gift ! but once your in then everything begins to change ! Now that your in you and you have accepted the free gift of salvation they often say ” now that your a Christian you’d better straighten up! Walk the walk ! They will hand you a list of all the things that you need to start doing for God ! or Gods is not going to be pleased with you! In fact God may even cast you out of His kingdom if you don’t measure up! In other words it’s unconditional love and grace in the beginning to get you in the door but after your in it’s about love with conditions and earned favor . Religion will basically tell you that salvation is free but now that your saved it’s up to you to maintain your salvation!

But again the bait and switch gospel is not the gospel of Grace or Jesus. We need grace from start to finish and Gods love is unconditional from start to Finish and salvation is a free gift from God with no strings attached! God paid the price for our sins and He only asks that we receive it

God sent Jesus because He loves us and wants to spend eternity with us. God is not in the condemning business but in the saving business. God did not send His son to condemn us but to save us John 3:16-17

And God desires to save every last one of us from the best of us to the worst of us.( 2 Peter 3:9)

For too long religion has been prostituting the love of God by telling us we most do a bunch of stuff to maintain our fathers love us. This is the greatest crime ever inflicted on the human race.

It has left citizens of the kingdom ,orphaned, messed up and floundering in the pigpen of dead works. Religion portrays God as an angry God who just tolerates us but Jesus shows us a very different picture of God . Jesus reveals God as one who unconditionally loves us and who always forgives. ( Paul Ellis)

We have got to stop portraying God as the nice salesman just to get us in and then He changes to this angry Father who is constantly disappointed with us and our performance. God loved us even while we were ungodly sinners and He will always love us. His love never changes.

Purpose of the Law

Proverbs16:6 says ” The fear of God will make people depart from evil” but it’s by mercy and truth that iniquity is purged . ” The law and the fear of God was often used under the old covenant in order to help control sin until the promise could come.. Men had a sin nature that man could never change through his own self effort! But the law could never change the sin nature in man. The law could only help restrain sin until the promise could come. The promise to come is Jesus. We need to understand that Jesus came to not only forgive and take away our sins but He also came to deal once and for all with our old sin nature and give us a brand new nature created in Him!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

The law kept us in protective custody. But the law could never change our old nature. The law instilled the fear of punishment which kept men temporarily restrained from evil but the law was never Gods perfect way for dealing with sin. The law was only a temporary preventative to keep man in check . The gospel of grace and not the law is Gods perfect solution for dealing with sin.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.Romans 1:16

Now when I was growing up if kids got in trouble then,kids got spanked! . I know it’s not popular to spank kids today, but for hundreds of years it was the very popular way to help restrain kids from doing wrong. In fact spanking was even popular in public schools at one time! I mean , If you got into mischief then you were often sent to the principles office and spanked! And usually the preferred instrument was a paddle with holes in it! How do I know this ? I know because it happened to me once ! And that one time spanking with the paddle with all those holes was enough to get my attention!

My dad’s instrument of choice for spanking was a thick leather belt! If one of us kids got into mischief then dad would with one long swoop whip off his belt! , fold it in half and go to town!

I remember me and my oldest brother got in trouble one time and of course we were told to immediately go to our bedroom and there wait for the wrath of dad to come in later with his belt!

And now that I think back on this dreaded go to your bedroom and wait for dad event , I really think that the waiting was really more traumatizing then the actual spanking! Now when mom spanked us it was a different story it was not near as frightening , because when mom spanked us she would usually use a little light weight house shoe. I mean she would whip us with all her might with that little shoe and we would cry and scream like it was really being effective , but as soon as she left the room me and my brother would bust out laughing! But my point to all this is that the leather belt of the law was some what affective in controlling bad behavior but there was one thing that the law could never do and that was it could never change our nature.

We need to understand that we pare not sinners because we sin , we sin because we were by nature sinners. Our sin nature passed down from Adam was always the real issue that needed to be death with. Like they say ” you can put lipstick on a pig but that still does not change the nature of the pig.

Now I wonder also today how many Christians because of wrong teaching are really like I use to be waiting for my dad to come into my room with the belt!

The good news of the gospel is that we do not have to fear Judgment because our Judgment has already been taken care in the body of Jesus! Our Heavenly Father is not coming back with His thick leather belt to punish us because punishment for our sin our sin has already been taken care of in the body of a Jesus. If we still fear that God is coming back with His thick leather belt of wrath then we simply do not understand the true gospel . Jesus has already taken our place for sin. Jesus took our place.

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.( 2Corinthians 5:21)

I’m reminded of a story when a cousin of mine said that when him and his sisters were growing up that one day something around the house got damaged but no one would admit they did it, so the dad lined all the kids up and said unless one of you steps forward and admits to the damage then I’m going to spank all of you! Well my cousin said he didn’t do it but he decided to step up to the plate and take one for the team!

This is in essence what Jesus did for us ! We were all guilty of sin but Jesus our elder brother stepped up to the plate for us and paid the price for all our sins. Jesus took on himself the Judgment and wrath of God for all our sins.

If your born again then Jesus is not coming back to judge you for any of your sins because your sins have already been Judged! Once and for all at the cross in the body of Christ.

so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.( Hebrews 9:28)NLT

Jesus paid the price for all our sins , past present and future sins and He is not coming back to deal with your sin but to bring full salvation to all who look for Him . Now someone always says ” how can you say that Jesus died for all our sins even our future sins?” Well thats an easy question to answer because the truth is when Jesus died over 2000 years ago for our sins all our sins were in the future because we had not even been born yet!

The law was could never do away with sin it could only help to restrain sin . The law was like a leash on a dog.. Or a muzzle on a dog. The law could temporarily restrain but the law could never change the heart. The law could only restrain man. But the law could never change the heart of man. If you muzzle a dog then the muzzle will help to control the dog from biting someone but the muzzle cannot change the heart of the dog and the dog in his heart still wants to bite you!

So a person asked me once well if we don’t have the law or the fear of punishment to restrain us then what will restrain us? I mean If we don’t have the leash law for restraint then what? What’s going to keep people from running wild in sin? This really seems to be the fear of most who do not understand grace . Many believe that preaching too much grace will cause the church to just go crazy in sin ( Church gone wild ) . They say we need a balance , that we need to balance grace with law. And to be honest I myself use to believe this until I understood Grace and the power of Gods love. The solution to seeing anyone free from the dominion of sin is never to balance grace with law! In fact this is the worst thing you can do. Again the law does nothing to deal with the root of sin in the heart of man , in fact the law actually excites sin and gives strength to sin

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 1Corinthians 15:56

For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. (Romans 7:9)

The law does not help to deal with the real sin issue in man , in fact according to the two scriptures above the law actually gives strength to sin and will actually cause a revival of sin !

To think that balancing grace with law will help to control sin is a grave mistake. I say a grave mistake, because that’s where this mixture will lead. It will lead people back to the grave , not freedom and life .

The way to be kept free from sins dominion is not less grace but more grace and no law!

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

We not only need grace , we need abundant grace or hyper grace! Please do not listen to preachers who say to much grace is a dangerous thing! They simply do not understand grace.

For if by one man’s offense 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)

Gods throne is not a throne of Grace not law but Grace! And Our Father is more then ready to give us as much grace as we need for any situation.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.( Hebrews 4:16)

Today under the new covenant of grace we have a new nature and Gods love not the law is what restrains us.. You can take a leash off a dog but if that dog is fed and loved , then that dog might test his freedom ban little but the dog will eventually come back to his masters house because the dog knows who loves him and who feeds him.

1 Timothy 1:9 says” the law is not for a righteous man”. The law is not for those who have already been made righteous in Christ. The law had it’s use before we were saved but once we come to Christ then the purpose for the law is finished. The law is not for the righteous but for the unrighteous.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.( Galatians 3:24-26)

The law was never really given for us to keep but to show us that we could not keep it. It was given to reveal what was hidden beneath all our goodness and that was our sin nature.

Therefore 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 3:20)

The law was like a X-Ray machine , it revealed the hidden problem deep inside but could not fix the problem , it could only reveal the problem!

The law was the X- Ray machine that reveals the sin nature but it’s through the new birth that God performs the spiritual surgery. God takes out the old and the new is put into it’s place . It’s like God did spiritual open heart surgery on us! He took out our old heart and gave us a brand new heart !

Today we don’t have an old sinful heart because God had already created in us a new heart.

We know longer sing that old song “create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me ! ” No ! If your born again , God has already done this ! Today you can trust your heart because God has already recreated it and made it new in Him.

And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: [20] That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

The law came to show us how crooked our heart was but Gods grace cane to straighten it out!

We are no longer under the law but Grace and because we are no longer under the law but grace then sin will no longer have dominion over you. Romans 6:14

Removing the Vail

Removing the Veil for those who are still blind to the message of Grace.

The old covenant is described as a ministry of death. It was a glorious covenant because it contained many beautiful laws. But it ministered death to those who tried to keep those laws because they couldn’t do it. For that reason Paul called the old covenant “the ministry of condemnation.”

The people who lived under the covenant had a veil over their hearts. And I have to say with sorrow, but also with hope, that for many years I too read the Bible with a thick veil on my heart. I was no better off than the people in Old Testament times because of the veil. I saw the letter and nothing else. I didn’t see the Spirit. So the letter was like a veil. I couldn’t see God’s intention behind the letter. I saw just the lifeless demands of the law–demands that no one has ever been able to fulfill.

Now I understand why Paul called the old covenant, condemnation and death. I tried to live by the law, and I taught others to live by it. But we always felt like failures. We could never do it! So we felt condemned, and we lived with a continual feeling of guilt.

A great many believers are terribly discouraged with trying to live the Christian life because they have the old and the new covenants mixed up. They know that under the new covenant we are not under the law, but they still try to live according to the law. When they find they can’t do it, they feel condemned.

It makes me sad to see so many people trying to live the Christian life but finding they are unable to. But it also gives me hope. Yes, hope! Now that may seem like a paradox. But in my own life it was only when I came to the end of self-effort–when I saw that I couldn’t do all the things that Christians are supposed to do–that I gave up and turned to the Lord. When a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. When we stop trying to do it ourselves and rest in Jesus, trusting Him in us to live the Christian life, we are no longer blinded by the veil. We get ourselves in focus and see clearly. Listen to Paul’s words, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord . . .” If you remove the veil from your face and look in a mirror, you will see the glory of the Lord! In other words, when you remove the veil of the law from your life and look into a mirror to see who you really are, you will behold the glory of Christ in your own face.

taken from Living With Jesus Today by Juan Carlos Ortiz

Communion on the Moon?

What was the first liquid and first food consumed on the moon?

I’m betting that most are unaware of this story.

Forty-five years ago, two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon. But, what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. I’m talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon. Some months after his return, he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.

The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas during this period in his life; and, knowing that he would soon be doing something unprecedented in human history, he felt that he should mark the occasion somehow. He asked his minister to help him. And so the minister consecrated a communion wafer and a small vial of communion wine. Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth’s orbit and onto the surface of the moon. He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin made the following public statement:

“This is the LM pilot. I’d like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.” He then ended radio communication, and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John, and he took communion.

Here is his own account of what happened: “In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture”

‘I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit …
Apart from me you can do nothing.’

“I had intended to read my communion passage back to Earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew’s reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly.”

“I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there were the communion elements.”

“And, of course, it’s interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon – and who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the “Love that moves the Sun and other stars.”

I like my yoke over easy !

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, a and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1-6 NKJV)

The law is not an easy yoke it’s a hard heavy yoke, in fact it’s called a yoke of bondage !

The law Is not easy, it’s hard and it binds. Man was never created to live life by the law or even by external rules but by the love of God and life of the Spirit.

When God created man He didn’t hand man a rule book to teach man how to live and relate to Him , No! God took man and breathed His Spirit into man and man became a living being . We were created to be living beings , not living doings. We were originally created to live and move by the spirit , not by external rules but by the indwelling Spirit.

In Him we live and move and have our being !

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.(Acts 17:28)

Living by rules and the law is not easy because it’s not the way that God created us to live.

We are Gods offspring which means He is our Father and we are His children. God is not our taskmaster and we His slaves! Neither is God our employer and we His employees! No God is our Father and we are His kids!

The Apostle Paul was telling the church in Galatia now that your born again and have the Spirit of life living on the inside of you don’t turn back to the law . The law was never the easy or light way of living , it was the heavy and hard way. One reason it was hard and heavy was because the law was an all or nothing deal! (James 2:10 ) if you broke one law then your guilty of breaking all the law! The law was not an easy yoke but a very hard yoke!

I don’t know about you but I don’t like my yoke hard. I kind of like my yoke over easy!

Many would say ” Oh your one of those easy believism preachers ! ” and my response to them would be ” so what are you ? A hard believism preacher? Why would you want to make it hard for people to believe? and hard to follow God? I’m not the only one who likes their yoke easy .

Jesus himself spoke about a yoke that was not only easy but restful and liberating . It was not the heavy yoke of the law but the easy yoke of grace.

( Jesus said )”Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ( Matthew 11:28-30)

The yoke Jesus spoke of that was easy and light was the yoke of grace and the yoke of a real intimate relationship with the father.

If you were to ask many Christians how their walk with The Lord was they would tell you it’s not easy! It’s hard ! It’s rough ! It’s a struggle ! But is this really the life that Jesus promised us? I know that the Christian life isn’t without challenges but if we spend most of our Christian walk thinking it’s like walking barefoot in the snow uphill both ways then something is wrong! We may be caring the wrong yoke!

When we come to Christ and we are born of the Spirit ! God takes away the old nature and gives us a brand new recreated nature and Its through this new birth that we also have a new yoke! We are now yoked to Christ. (2Corinthians 5:17)

1 Corinthians 6:17 says those who have been joined to The Lord become one spirit with Him.

Today our new life in Christ isn’t about me trying my best to live for God by keeping all the rules or even by fulling the law ! but it’s really Christ now living in me and through me .We cannot be yoked to the law and grace at the same time! We have a new relationship with the law and that is death. We are to be dead to the law so that we might live to God.

We are not saved and free from the law to then turn around and try our best with the Lords help to fulfill the law! No! The law has already been fulfilled by Jesus and now the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but who walk by the Spirit. (Romans 7:4)

For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:19-20)

Now Hebrews 11:6 says “without faith it’s impossible to please God” . and in Galatians 3:12 it’s says “the law is not of faith”.

It takes no faith to follow the law ( the law is not of faith) but it does take faith to believe that grace will lead you and guide you into all truth and will continue to teach you how to live. Man thinks by him following the law and doing his best to keep the law is what it means to live by faith, but again the law is not of faith. It takes no faith to follow external laws and rules and keeping all the rules does not mean that you have a relationship with God. Many today like the Pharisees may follow the law but they do not have a relationship with God. Many knew about God but they don’t really know God!

Titus tells us that grace and not the law is the one that saves us and that grace now teaches us how to live. Grace is like our new internal GPS guidance system.

The law is not of faith. If you want to please God it will not be through the law but by believing that Jesus is all we need to save us and to lead us in this life. Today we are to be filled and led by the internal Spirit of life not by external law and rules.

Today we live by faith and not performance.

But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.Romans 7:4

The law is not for the righteous man or the one who is truly born again! The law is for the lost and the unrighteous but the law is not for the righteous man. The only way that a born again believer can ever be successful in this life is by seeing himself dead to the law and married to Christ. It is not by the letter but by walking after the Spirit that we find the true way of living.

The only way to bare true fruit unto God is to die to the old yoke of the law and see yourself fully yoked or married to Jesus.

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another— to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. (Romans 7:4-6)

As we follow the Spirit of life then the Holy Spirit will lead you into all kinds of easy righteous good works. The Holy Spirit will also lead you into all kinds of acts of kindness and love. The Holy Spirit will manifest the fruit of righteousness through your life as you die to the law of self effort and walk after the Spirit. All the works that Jesus did He did them by resting in and following the promptings of the Spirit that was in Him. We will accomplish far more by accident with and with ease by following the Spirit then we could ever do on purpose through our own fleshly sweat and self effort .

Jesus did not do all the works that He did through his own figuring it out ,sweat, toil and self effort , No He simply walked in rest and lived by the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Today many church’s believe in salvation by grace but then they must roll up their sleeves and go to work, working hard to follow the law and to live for Jesus to do the work of the ministry by trying our best ! But this is not grace or the yoke of Jesus , it’s the yoke of mans own self effort. Many today do not know how to live by grace. Grace is the Spirit of Christ that now lives in us to lead us, teach us , enables us, equip us and empower us to do all that God has called us to do.

Grace does not mean me living for Jesus but living from Jesus ! (Galatians 2:20)

As we simply respond to the leading if the Spirit within , then He will lead us just as He led Jesus! For example the Holy Spirit may prompt us to give a certain amount of money to someone that is in need. We do not always know what the need is but the Holy Spirit knows every need. As we give according to the Spirits leading then great joy will be the result! Again the Holy Spirit may lead us to say something to someone that needs an encouraging word. We may not always know what kinds of things that people are going through or what to say, but the Holy Spirit knows all things and He knows the exact words to give someone that will have the most impact on their lives ! So we can become much more effective in ministry by following the leading of the Spirit then we could ever be following our own formulas , emotions or flesh.

Religion will try and do the work of the ministry by intellectual law, formulas and steps and although they may seem to see a degree of success it is not the way that God has called us to minister in this life.

Romans 7:4 says that “we are discharged from the Law and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under obedience to the old code of written regulations, but under obedience to the promptings of the Spirit in newness of life. (Romans 7:6) AMP

Today we do not try and live by the law or formulas but we rest and live by the Spirit.

Formula is for babies but those led by the Spirit are Sons. Romans 8:14

Laws and formulas are not a Spiritual way but is a very carnal way of man. Romans 8:6

We cannot be yoked to the Holy Spirit and the law at the same time , it will not work! It would be like traveling down the same road but in opposite directions ! It’s impossible ! We must see ourselves yoked to Jesus or the Law but it’s impossible to be yoked to both!

Now Grace is not against the law for the reason the law was given .. The law was a heavy yoke given to cause man to put off his own self effort and put their full faith in Christ.

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.And the law is not of faith: but, The man that does them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:11-14)

The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus ( Galatians 3:24-28)

Romans 10:4 says ” Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes”

1Timothy 1:9 the law is not for the righteous but unrighteous . We who are born again are the righteous! Therefore we do not need the law, because we have the law of the spirit of life .

Living by Faith and by law of spirit of life ( grace ) is how we are to now live.

Grace is not just a ticket to heaven but grace is our teacher Titus 2:11

Grace is our internal guidance system .. GPS .

Living by law is like you trying to read a map while driving down the streets of Chicago in busy traffic without your glasses on !

But Grace is like having our own internal GPS . We now rest , and enjoy the ride as grace prompts us where to go .

Are you Living by the Am I ? or the I AM ?

I Am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.John 10:11

Jesus said unto him, I Am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. ( John 14:6)

Jesus said unto her, I AM the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:( John 11:25)

Grace always looks at the I AM but Religion always looks at the AM I? Grace says I AM righteous because Jesus made me righteous but Religion keeps questioning its Righteousness by saying AM I doing enough to be righteous ? Grace focuses on the I Am but Religion focuses on the Am I? If you will focus on the I AM who is Jesus then Jesus will become all that you will ever need. Jesus is the I Am ! Remember what Jesus told the religious folks during his earthly ministry?

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM! Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.( John 8:56-59)

When Jesus said before Abraham was I Am the Jews knew what Jesus was saying, He was telling them that He was God in the flesh! This is why they took up stones ! To them this was blasphemy .. I AM is the all sufficient One . The ever present, right now God ! who is all we will ever need. Jesus didn’t say I was or I will be but He said I AM. This is the same thing God told Moses when He sent Moses back into Egypt to deliver His people from bondage.

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.( Exodus 3:13-14)

God told Moses tell them I AM has sent you. ! This really is an incredible statement because it really describes God as the one who delivers us, saves us, provides for us, gives life to us, leads us . The I AM describes and ever present right now God. It also is how faith works. Faith always works in the right now. Faith agrees says I AM what I AM right now because Of the I AM.

True Faith will always focus on the I Am ! Faith says I Am healed , I Am righteous, I Am complete in Christ , I Am worthy , because the I Am has made me worthy , I Am righteous because The I AM has already made me righteous . I am healed because the I Am has already healed me . Religion will cause you to shift your focus from the I Am back to the Am I ? Am I worthy ? Am I righteous? Am I I healed ? Am I pleasing to God ? Am I doing enough? Am I giving enough? Am I ? Am I ? Am I pleasing enough? Religion will move you from faith and confidence in the finished work of the I Am and back to the AM I ?of questioning , doubting , fear ,condemnation which will not cause you to draw to God but will cause you to shrink back from God . But Faith always looks at the I AM ! Faith says I AM righteous because Jesus made me righteous through the finished work of the cross ! Religion is the gospel of AM I? Which is no gospel at all ! Its a backwards Gospel ! Grace is not about what I do for Christ but Grace is about what Christ has already done for me and what Christ is now doing in and through me. Anytime you hear a gospel that begins to shift the focus from Christ and the finished work of the cross back to you I would advise you to run the other way !