Why do people repent in spirit, but never seem to be able to carry it out in
practice? It's like the alcoholic sitting in a bar crying about how much he
really does love his family, but unable to show it.
Is it possible that our attitudes toward sin can help keep people bound?
A Spirit of LegalismSomething unexplainable, and only discernable,
happens when you look at someone and see your sin or weakness reflected in their
eyes. They may want you to work out your sinfulness, but their very attitude of
disapproval is enough to put you on the defensive, thus strengthening your sin
(I Cor. 15:57). Condemnation is an attitude that can't be hidden. It comes
across even through forbearance. It's not the attitude towards sin that's wrong,
but that towards the sinner.
How, then, does a parent or spiritual leader, who's responsible for others,
deal with sin (rebellion) when he sees it operating? By FAITH! He must not
judge, but call upon God in faith.
Why is faith so important in this
area? Because we're dealing with
powers. We know we were born under the
power of sin. We don't need to have the knowledge of our sin constantly
tormenting us. We need the
power to overcome it.
Why did Paul go to such great lengths to talk about justification by faith?
Could it be that he understood the
dangers of operating under the law,
which "worketh wrath"?
The Jews sought to be accepted by God by establishing their own righteousness
and not the righteousness that comes by faith. What significance does this have
to God? Enough for us to spend some time in meditation on it? It was enough for
Paul to write two epistles significantly devoted to the subject —Romans and
Galatians. And, it can apply to the way we relate to holiness (without which no
man shall see God) and what we expect to "see" in others, which can either bring
us into the realm of "the substance of things unseen" by our faith or into the
realm of legalism by sight.
When I look up to someone, and all I sense emanating through their eyes is
their awareness of or judgement of me as a sinner, or as a Christian walking in
the flesh, the offense is so strong that it holds
no motivating desire to
overcome whatever sin may be operating, should there be any. If nothing actually
is operating, I may come away with doubts about myself that weren’t there
before. This is
not conviction, but a nagging cloud of haze which serves
no other purpose than to destroy the confidence necessary to overcome sin. If
someone sees us differently than we see ourselves, we either assume they're
right and we're wrong or we are forced to deal with bitter resentment caused by
their judgmental attitude toward us.
The important point here, though, is what happens to our confidence. Getting
hung up in innuendos destroys confidence. When our motives and intentions are
questioned by someone else, or even by our own selves, we are torn down instead
of built up. People lack confidence and
need guidance by those who have
it. Fear of our unholiness is putting faith in the flesh. We become removed from
the "law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus," which is the only thing that
can empower us. Cults gain power in this area. They take advantage of people's
ignorance and prey on their neediness. No leader or church group should be able
to interfere with a person's relationship with God. The Holy Spirit teaches. The
ministry should build up faith, not tear down confidence.
What is the “flesh”? Is it the soul? Is the spirit to be developed at the
expense of the soul? Does the
soul need to be crucified, or is it
sin in the soul that must be dealt with? Sure, in my flesh is no good
thing, but in my spirit resides the Holy Spirit, and I won't let anyone convince
me I'm walking in the flesh when I’m trying to put my faith in action. I
need to trust in the work of Christ; I don't need my flesh destroyed, but
my spirit raised up by faith.
We need to be careful in our judgment of what's operating as flesh vs.
spirit. Do we allow Satan to magnify sin in the flesh by our judgments instead
of forgiving sin in ourselves and in others and treating it with prayer and
love, thus overcoming evil with good? I realize it's a codependent symptom to
"enable" someone in their weakness by making excuses for them, and I'm not
talking about this. The power of love diminishes the force of the
guilt
that brings us into bondage and strengthens sin, and redirects the focus to the
power of God, our
source of goodness. This does not condone or encourage
sin, but is actually the
only way to deal with it.
"Judgement begins in the house of God." It's Scriptures such as this one that
cause parents and leadership to rise up and take the “necessary” actions to deal
with problems and situations, but I know, as a parent, that if I see things
through the eyes of the flesh because I don't have understanding in a particular
area, I will destroy God's work --the very opposite desire of my heart. I will
tear down instead of build up because my expectations as a parent have not been
met. In actuality, my children's destinies are in my hands because God has given
me His authority in their lives, but this power can only be activated when it's
yielded to God by faith, which comes from seeking Him earnestly on their behalf.
If I can't walk in the Spirit in this area, knowing myself, I'll operate in
legalism, which is worse than doing nothing at all. My sense of responsibility
will dictate to me rather than the Spirit of God and cause me to dictate rather
than encourage and train.
If I can't sense the Spirit of God leading me I'd better pray and wait for
His leading before operating in the wrong spirit. The spirit of legalism has
disastrous effects on another person's life, and I want to see the
stronghold
destroyed! It is generated out of sincerity, but in our
ignorance masquerades as concern. It's
not true concern because when
we're truly concerned we'll seek God's ways, knowing that ours will be futile to
accomplish His goals. We can't interfere with God's ways out of a sense of
responsibility. We must seek God on every matter to receive direction from Him
alone. If we do this I think we can trust that He'll guide us every step of the
way in every situation.
The very reason it's easier to be a grandparent than it is to be a parent
lies in the burden of
responsibility. As a grandparent I'll always do
what's in the best interest of the child, but I'm "free" to love the child
alone, with no burden. My tenet is that training a child should not be a burden
but a joy. Children should see joy in our eyes and not worry or disapproval.
Burdens are
assumed when we fail to treat problems with prayer and faith,
watching and waiting for God to move in our midst and give us direction and
power. He always comes through, and what could be disastrous confrontation
becomes real and interested communication where the love comes across rather
than disappointment and condemnation.
We need to be careful that we're not in the area of trying to control others,
because we'll never help them that way. We need to build their faith in areas
they're bound --help them to remove themselves from their attachment to their
sin by helping them to see it as a power they're born under which was destroyed
at the Cross. As long as they're attached to
their responsibility for
removing their sin, they'll remain bound in helplessness, because they don't
have that kind of power. Like the Jews, they'll be trying to establish their own
righteousness.
But to comfort them in the fact that it's
not their fault they were
born under its power, they have a starting point if they can detach themselves
from the burden of guilt. This is the freedom the Gospel offers. Again, it's not
to excuse or encourage the sin we need to be accountable for, but to build
faith. The ability to be detached from the guilt which causes us to beat
ourselves up is the
first step to overcoming.
I firmly believe that many people will never experience the true power of the
Resurrection
because they can't accept the freedom offered by the reality
of the Gospel. Their spirits have become so oppressed and downtrodden that
growth is an overwhelming burden they simply cannot cast on the Lord, instead of
an exciting opportunity to experience that power that transforms us from what we
are to what He is, from glory to glory. We need to shake up this morbid sense of
"unworthiness" and convince them that their problem is not too big for God if
they could only release it to Him and go on to something else, all the while
proclaiming His victory.
That's how I've overcome weaknesses. I could become totally absorbed,
introspective and analytical of areas of personal weakness, but I've learned how
devastatingly destructive it is. It holds you in perpetual bondage, unable to
concentrate on doing the things you
can do as you trust in God's
sanctifying power to be able to handle those areas yielded to Him. The fight of
faith is the struggle to hold on to the truth, not one of trying to rid
ourselves of our sin. If we continue to hold on to a false burden, focusing our
gaze on improvement, we destroy the space necessary for God to work in the area
of "things unseen", and our faith is not faith at all, because it hasn't been
activated.
Don't call it presumption or making excuses when a person says "God, you have
a
big problem." That person is trying to be set free from the burden
that's too big for him to carry, for which the Lord was crucified. That person
knows he's powerless and needs to cling to the conviction that God's power is
available to him for as long as it takes to receive the victory. If I, who have
struggled for many years to cling to faith which is foreign to me but which the
Word of God has convinced me of, how much more do we need to carry and build up
those who can't free themselves from guilt and condemnation long enough to see
the power of God work in their lives!
I have
dared to believe because I had confidence enough to give it a
try. If all we see in others is the problem, our focus is in the wrong place. We
need to see Jesus, His salvation, sanctification and imputed righteousness and
believe that His grace is able to meet our every need and conquer every weakness
in our lives. This will reduce the immensity of the responsibility to a level a
person can live with and function under until he's totally set free.
Webster's definition of "condemnation" is: "to express disapproval of;
censure; criticize. To pronounce judgement against; to sentence; to doom; to
demonstrate the guilt of; to convict."
The definition of "propitiation"
is: "to appease and render favorable."
If God sees us this way, why can't we? We know that sin separates us from
God, and we've memorized all the Scriptures that refer to sin and its effects,
and holiness (without which no man shall see God), but do we focus on these at
the
expense of the Scriptures that preach the power of the Gospel? Do we
“throw away the baby with the bathwater?”
I realize that the meaning of repentance is turning away from sin and
resisting Satan, but doing this is
impossible unless one has a firm grip
on the power the Gospel offers and
how to operate it in faith. This is
awesome stuff we're dealing with!
When He nailed the law to the Cross, Jesus “
disarmed the rulers and
authorities, having triumphed over them” (Col. 2:14, 15). The law is what holds
us in the power of sin. To be freed from it is to be freed from the power of
sin. When we're finally released from the oppression of guilt and have the
enabling ability to believe in Jesus' overcoming victory, the joy of the Lord
surely does become our strength, and our fight becomes a challenge because the
aim is a positive one we know we can reach because we know God's Word is true.
If we can be freed long enough from the false burden in order to concentrate on
laboring to enter into
rest by affirming our faith in His Word, we
will see real power enter our lives.
Again, I'm rising up against a legalistic spirit which we, who are so serious
about walking in the Spirit, can be vulnerable to. It's that opposite extreme,
and an unseen trap very difficult to get out of. God, release us to operate in
faith alone.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Scriptures on Legalism vs
Faith
Bondage to the Law
Rom. 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under
the law, but under grace.
1 Cor. 15:56, 57
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the
law.
Gal 3:21, 22
Is the law then against the promises of God? God
forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily
righteous¬ness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all
under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that
believe.
Rom. 4:15, 16
Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law
is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by
grace.
Rom. 3:20
...for by the law is the knowledge of
sin.
Rom. 7:8, 22, 23
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For
I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
But I see another law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members.
II Cor. 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;
Rom. 4:14, 15
For if
they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of
none effect.Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no
transgression.
Gal. 2:21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if
righteousness came by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Rom.
5:13
...but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom. 10:4
For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believeth.
Rom. 11:29
For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance.
Rom. 13:13
Owe no man anything, but to love one another:
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Gal. 3:13
Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us:
Gal. 3:24, 25
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.
Heb. 10:12
For the
law...can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not cease to
be offered? because that worshippers once purged should have no more
consciousness of sins.
Gal. 4:24
Which things are an allegory: for
these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gender¬eth to
bondage, which is Agar.
Rom. 10:3
For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
II Cor. 4:7
But we
have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be
of God and not of us.
Phil. 3:9
And be found in Him, not having mine
own righteous¬ness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Gal 3:11
But that
no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just
shall live by faith.
Gal. 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage.
Gal. 5:4
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosever of
you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Heb. 12:18,
20
For you are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and 22-24that
burned with fire, not unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest
For they
could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch the
mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart;
But ye are come
unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels,
To the general assembly and church
of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and
to the spirits of just men made perfect,
And to Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that
of Abel.
Gal. 5:6
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
I Pet.
4:8
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity
shall cover the multitude of sins.
Gal. 3:3, 5
Are ye so foolish?
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
He
therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you,
doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Rom.
10:4, 10
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believeth.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
(In my
heart I know He is my righteousness, and my heart believes He's changing me into
His image.)
Scriptures to "live"
by
Acts 13:39
Through Him everyone who believes is
justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of
Moses.
II Cor. 5:21
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.
Is. 16:3,
4
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because
he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is
everlasting strength.
Ephes. 1:7
In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins...
Psalm 107:2
Let the redeemed of
the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
1 Jn.
1:7
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all
sin.
Rom. 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through him.
Heb. 13:12
Wherefore Jesus
also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the
gate.
Rev. 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and
by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death.
Gal. 6:2, 3
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the
law of Christ.
For if a man think himself to be something, when he is
nothing, he deceiveth himself.
I Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
Casting all
your care upon Him; for He careth for you.
Heb. 10:38, 39
Now the just
shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him.
But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul.
I Cor. 1:30, 31
But of Him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption.
That, according as it is written, He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Rom. 3:24, 25
Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemp¬tion that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God
hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God;
To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be
just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
James 2:23,
24
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it
was imputed unto him for righ¬teousness: and he was called the Friend of
God.
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only.
(The fight of faith is WORK!)
Col 2:12
Buried with Him in
baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation
of God...
