The Two Laws: The Struggle Within

Imagine you're at the mall to buy new clothes because you've lost 50 lbs. You was a person who loved sweets. You had to have them after ever meal and for every celebration. The changing point for you was when you went in for a check-up and found that you were pre-diabetic and obese according to the size chart for your age. Therefore after consulting God, you made a conscious decision to leave sweets alone and change your eating habits with food. Now you have reaped the benefits of your labor. The weight melted away and your numbers are now at good levels. You're walking through the mall and a smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies alert your senses. You imagine that they're gooey with warm milk chocolate. You turn to the direction of the smell. Now you are battling. Do I go get some cookies or do I keep going so I don't disrupt my progress? Your flesh is saying "GO GET THE COOKIES!" and your spirit is saying "God didn't bring you this far for you throw it away for cookies. You know how hard it's going to be if you open that door." The flesh says "Two cookies won't hurt you." Next thing you know, you're at counter buying five cookies instead of two and a bottle of cold milk. What just happened? Well Paul tells us about the war between our flesh and spirt. He explains how much of a struggle it is to do the right thing without Jesus Christ. Turn to Romans 7:18-25. 

The Struggle Within

 

Romans 7: 18-25 Paul explains in this block of scripture the battle of good and evil. He says he wants to do right but he can't in his sinful nature. He wants to make the right decisions that God would be pleased with but he continues to make the opposite choice. You can see his frustration through scripture when he says " Oh what a miserable person I am!" Paul is showing us that he totally understands the fight to do good but you keep doing bad. We all go through this from time to time. In the story above it was cookies, for you it may be sexual immorality, alcoholism, bad parenting, etc. You ever heard the saying "The devil made me do it" Through the sin that satan caused to come in this world through trickery we now have a war to fight daily. Paul speaks of two laws: The law of God and the law of sin working in his body. He wants to please God but he continues to succumb to sin. As you read this block of scripture you can almost become discouraged. You may begin to think what's the point of trying to do right if I'm just going to keep failing. DON'T GIVE UP! Paul has a answer that will not only stop you from continuously failing but make you victorious in living a life for God.

The Old Man

Remember in verse 18 Paul said that nothing good dwells within his body. I want you to understand first that Paul isn't saying our body is inherently evil and it will do nothing but bad. What he is saying is that because we were tainted with sin and in bondage to it we have been using our body for our sinful lusts. Our body in itself isn't evil, God made our bodies and said that it was good. He also made us in his image and likeness. Nevertheless, our bodies are on a collision course for death in eternity due to sin. The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death. The way sin works is first through the mind as temptation of something we lust (desire) for. Then we are lured by it to commit sin. Once sin is committed it produces death. Glory be to God he gave us a way of escape from this vicious cycle of sin, JESUS CHRIST. Because we were tainted with sin we must be born again without bondage to sin and that's where Jesus come in. When we accept Jesus and believe that he is the son of the living God and died and rose again on the third day we become saved. The old man has been crucified with Christ but nevertheless we live in our new nature. When we are born again we become free from sin. We are no longer on the collision course to Hell. We now have victory over sin and when we are tempted we have the power of the Holy Spirit to resist the devil and his evil schemes. We no longer have to do the wrong thing when we want to do right. We can now do right through Jesus Christ saving grace. 

The New Man

Now that we are born again we can walk in the newness of life. We often forget this luxury. Many have become so comfortable in sin they think they can"t fight it (they're right) but you don't have to, Jesus has done that work for us. Now it's time to walk in our new nature. One strategy against sin is to make a goal to please God with your body. James tells us in Chapter four a few strategies we can use to walk in our new nature.  

• Submit yourself to God
• Resist the Devil and he will flee
• Draw near to God and he will draw near to you
• Wash your hands of sin and Purify your heart (so that your loyalty won't be divided between the world and God)
• Repent of your sin and show sorrow for it

When we follow this list God will lift us up. He will strengthen us against sin. We must crucify the flesh daily. Paul tells us in  Galatians 5 chapter that we must live by the Holy Spirit. We must learn to keep our flesh under subjection of the spirit. Be aware of the power you have over your old nature through Jesus. If you don't reject the old man and it's practices you will continue to stay captivated by sin. We do not become robots programmed to do right but we become empowered to do right. We must do the work by making a conscious decision to choose God and his commandments. Not by our works that anyone can boast but by the Grace given to us by God through Christ. Now go and be VICTORIOUS!

Scriptures in this blog came from the NLT and the ESV versions for better clarity. If you have any questions please leave them in the comment section. 

The Gospel of Christ vs. Legalism: What Ground are you Standing On?

We are in an era of uncertainty, doubt and fear. Many are questioning their life and the way they have been living. I believe we all should constantly evaluate our lives and what we do with the precious gift of life. Everywhere you turn now someone is talking about being "Woke". Information and knowledge is so easy to obtain, because of this a lot that we were in the dark about has been revealed to us. But, what do we do with all this information? Are we as Christians (followers of Christ) allowing it to make us stronger or are we allowing it to deconstruct our faith in the True and Living God? Often I've found that it's the latter and that tells me " Houston, we have a problem". Many are waking up to the fact that they have been living out "Legalism" and not Grace by Faith in Jesus Christ. 

What is Legalism? 

According to Thomas R. Schreiner “Legalism exists when people attempt to secure righteousness in God’s sight by good works. Legalists believe that they can earn or merit God’s approval by performing the requirements of the law,” I will speak for myself, I knew that Jesus died for my sins from a little girl. I knew I could be forgiven for my sin because Jesus died, but I didn't have a true understanding of what Jesus actually did on the cross. I only understood when I begin to search God for myself and ask questions that others couldn't really answer. I realized I really didn't understand the God that I served. Many are waking up to this fact, which is not a bad thing. What is bad is that they're turning on the Most High God because of misunderstandings. They feel they are going crazy trying to keep a law that God isn't holding them to. I was raised going to a Church building every Sunday, Bible class on Wednesday and Choir rehearsal. I was taught a gang of things we are not supposed to do as a "Christian".  I wasn't told why really, I just knew not to do it because that's what I learned from people not God. This is what Legalism is and why many are leaving. You will run yourself crazy with the do's and dont's. This is also why many who think they are saved are not really saved. I say that because many came to the faith out of being condemned by people, many just believed what their parents said believe and some merely was afraid of going to hell so they said " I believe" without a repented heart.  It's time that we make our foundation sure by building a relationship with Christ and not rules.

The Gospel of Christ: Saved by Grace

See Legalism will not sustain you or me because there is nothing we can do to be justified. Justified means we are declared righteous because Christ took our guilt and shame. He took our penalty for sin. To give a small synopsis. God made Adam and Eve perfect without sin. They were made holy and righteous. He put them in the garden of Eden. This was a paradise for them with beautiful trees filled with fruit for them to eat. There was one tree that they were instructed not to eat from and that was the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan tempted Eve to eat from the tree by deceiving her. She then took the fruit to Adam and he ate it knowing it was forbidden. All mankind came through Adam, so because he sinned through him sinned entered every human since. We are born in sin. We are born with the desire to sin. God who is Holy, Righteous and king of kings has his rules that he never breaks. One rule is that Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Also the Bible says Hebrews 9:22 Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. In the old testement we can see all the sacrifices they had to make for sin (uncleanliness). God sent a way of escape for us because he so loved the world his creation, that he sent his son Jesus because he could satisfy the requirement for sin. His blood was sufficient because he had NO sin. So he died and was buried and rose on the third day with power over death. We can't do that no matter how "good" we try to be. It's God's grace, his undeserved favor that we are saved. That's it. The requirements to be saved is to believe that God sent his son Jesus to die for you, Repent which means that you have a change of heart through a contrite (sorrowful) spirit and turn your eyes from the world to God. You make a decision to allow Jesus to be Lord of your life, to live for Christ. Then be baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Works vs. Grace

Jesus said those who love me follow my commands. Jesus is telling us that this walk is relational. We can't work our way into Heaven. Jesus is the way , the truth and the life. No man can enter except by him. We follow God's Kingdom culture because we love him. That's It! When we become saved we began the process of sanctification. This is not anything we do, this is done by the word of God and the blood of Jesus. Sanctification means you are set apart through the transformation of your mind. Our mind is transformed the closer we get to God, he begins to reveal himself to us and his original plan for our lives. We are washed, cleaned through the blood of Jesus and the reading of God's Word. We are faithful to our spouse because we know it the right thing to do, not because we don't want to go to hell. We don't curse because this is not pleasing to God. We don't murder because it's wrong. We don't steal because it's wrong. I could go on and on. We love God and want to please him because he loved us not because we are scared into it. God wants the best for us because he loves us unconditionally. I also love my children unconditionally, but I'm not pleased with everything they do. I also don't allow them to do whatever they want in my presence because I have a moral code that I stand by. Now, I am in noooo way comparing myself to the most high God. I'm trying to give you a picture of our father in Heaven. You should never feel condemned because Jesus didn't come to condemn us, he came to save us. Condemnation comes from satan not God. When we sin we can go to God and repent and ask for forgiveness. Our God is faithful and Just and will forgive us of all unrighteousness. He loves 👉you. 

If you are confused right now because it feels like you just can't get it right. Stop right now and talk to God, tell him everything you are feeling right now. If you've been taught not to question God, throw it out the window with legalism. We can go to God and talk to him about anything and he will answer us. Tell God that you want a relationship with him, you want to know him without the do's and don'ts. You just want to know his character, love, and his son Jesus Christ. Keep it real with God, he loves your transparency. Don't allow satan to deceive you into thinking you're not good enough because you sinned. We all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. There are good people of God that are giving the answers to the questions you have. You are not suppose to believe anything just because someone told you to. You are suppose to know why you follow Christ. Below are scriptures to help you drop legalism and build on your faith in Jesus for eternal salvation. 

Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Galations 3:13-14 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us- for it is written, cursed is everyone who hanged on a tree 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.…

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world ;but that the world through him might be saved. 

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. 

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.

Please leave a comment if this blog has helped you in any way. Share so that others that are struggling in their faith may be helped. If you have any questions please ask, if I don't know I will definitely point you to someone who does. Be Blessed my sister, my brother💖

God isn't a Religion: He is our Creator

God isn't a religion. Many are turning from God because of religion. We are putting the two together and it should not be so. God stands alone, he can't in any way be put in a box. Religion can. God isn't an institution of belief or organized system based on man. If no one believed in God he still would be God. God doesn't exist based on our belief in him.

Who is God?

God is the creator of all things. He was not born and will never die. He is not subject to time. He exist outside of everything we know to exist. There was no time before him. He isn't affected by time, space or matter. Nothing was created without him. By his word everything was created. Read Genesis for God's recap of the beginning. God is a spirit being, he doesn't have flesh like we do. He doesn't sleep or get tired. He is everywhere at once. He knows all, sees all, and he is all powerful. There is no power greater or equal to his.

God is Love

God is love. He's full of mercy and grace for his children. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God's will for us all is to have eternal life with him. Through Adam, sin entered the world and caused us to be separated from God. God is holy so he cannot be in the presence of sin. The penalty of sin is death and there is no remission of sin without blood so he sent his son to do what we couldn't because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.(Romans 3:23) All of us like sheep have gone astray , each of us has turned to his own way; But God has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Jesus.(Isaiah 53:6) Even though mankind has turned from God in so many ways he still loves us and pleads with us to come to him. 

Attributes of his Spirit

Kindness, Meekness, Long suffering, Just, Self-Control, Patient, Gentle, Good, Joy, Peace

God is unchanging, His word stands, He doesn't rewrite it, His word is life to our being. He sent his word to teach, rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness.  He is holy, there is no sin in him. There is no darkness around him. He is also a God of judgment. Eccl 12:14 For God will every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing whether good or bad. Our thought, motives, actions and words will all be accounted for. He even knows every hair on our head. He is amazing, almighty, magnificent, and though him we have our being. 

Don't allow anyone to put God in a box through religion. It is very important to read your Bible, Pray without ceasing and fast. Always equip yourself with the Armor of God Ephesians ch.6. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ. There is no belief in God without believing in his son. It is Jesus blood that justifies us. Don't listen to people who say there are many paths to God. It is not. This is a lie from satan because he wants to steal, kill and destroy you. This has been his plan from the beginning. He knows if he can keep you from Jesus, he has kept you from God because there is no other way. God is not a religion, he is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. HE IS THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS. Colossians 1:16 For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers and authorities. All things were created through him and for him.

My Best Life: Living the way God intended

Often we are taught to follow the New Testament and that the Law doesn't matter anymore. This is the furthest thing from the truth. The following of the law is still a important because it was important to God our Father for his people. Today its still important to God for his people. Remember God is the creator of all things. He knows what's best for us in all areas simply because we are his workmanship. He simply gave us a way to live that would cause us the less issues in life according to the way he manufactured us. There are 613 commandments in the Bible. We will not be able to follow them all but we should be pressing daily to do so.

Following the Law doesn't save us because that falls under "Works". Following the Law doesn't equal Salvation, let's be clear on that. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ saves us because our faith is credited to us as righteousness. Nevertheless, as believers begin to build a relationship with the father their love for him and his son (Jesus) should grow. This love causes us to seek him more and follow his commandments from a desire to live a life that's pleasing to him (fruit). We begin to produce fruit as we continue to change and grow in our walk. On the other hand, if we knowingly live in iniquity(lawlessness, sin) and we reside there, our faith is DEAD. When we live in lawlessness we produce works for the devil our adversary, not God. What James is saying is our character should scream our faith without ever opening our mouth. He's saying that our faith should begin to produce fruit/works. Our works start with following his commandments. To accept Jesus is to accept his ways, commandments and precepts. We will never be 100% perfect in our walk because we live in a filthy world with demonic influences on every side and sometimes we get a little dusty (we sin). This is why God sent his son to die for us, so that whosoever would take that chance to believe on him wouldn't perish in their sin but would have everlasting life with God.

 How we live is important because it shows how we truly feel about God and his gift (Jesus). God's sacrifice brought us out of slavery to sin. Before Jesus we were slaves to sin because of the choice of Adam, sin entered the world. The Mosaic law was hard to follow because the people hearts was far from God. They followed the Law for show not love. Their hearts was in this world and its customs. They were like a child that wants what they couldn't have. See God knew what most of us don't consider. The more we intermingle with lawless (sinful) people, the more we forget Gods ways, the more we will confirm to this world and see nothing wrong with it. The Bible tells us what's right and wrong in Gods eyes. The less we pick it up, we begin to do what's right and wrong in our eyes. There's a huge difference. The sayings "You are what you hang around" & " Birds of a feather flock together" are absolutely true.

Joshua 1:8 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you[a] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Meditating on the word keep our minds on him. When we follow 👆we live our Best Life because God is always going to do whats best for us. I said all that to say this. If you love God and believe he sent his son to die for your sins, begin to read his word which consists of the Old & New Testament. We must know the beginning to understand the ending. Ask God to teach you 👆ways. Trust me I know from experience he will never leave you ignorant. The Holy Spirit will lead, teach, and guide you to do the Fathers will. God the father and Jesus the son wants us to love them with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. This means following his commandments. We can do all things through Christ which strengthens us. Be Blessed living your Best Life.