Romans Seven; Part Two: The Danger of Organized Religion

There is a grave danger in organized religion which promotes obedience and allegiance to Jesus Christ through the legislation of morality, the performance of good deeds, without stressing this obedience in utter dependency to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

There is an equally great danger in building churches or promoting Christian programs  outside the direct leading of the voice of the Holy Spirit.

As Christians, if we seek to build our churches by self-reliance in our mental strategies, or create religious programs without the wisdom which God’s voice affords, we have fallen back in to the law.

As Christians if we expect sinners to repent by legislating morality upon them, we are promoting the law. There is nothing wrong in instructing the sinner in the way that she should go. I do that all of the time. However, we cannot expect the sinner to change until he has  a “ born again of the spirit” encounter with the Lord Jesus.

Let us remember the two basic premises of Part One of our Romans seven teaching.

The law, as Paul described it in Romans seven, is the all-inclusive set of principles given to humanity by God,  to show it its “hyper sinfulness.”

Without a law to point out a wrong doing,  a person remains innocent of it.

Whenever a person chooses to obey God  by the flesh, also called human effort, self-reliance, or “independent of God” mental strategies, he energize or activates sin which is pointed out as sinful, by the law.

Only when a person obeys God by the voice of the Holy Spirit is sin NOT activated.

We will discuss this in the days to come.

Galatians 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

The danger of organized religion is that it stimulates its parishioners or clergy into religious  works, or promoting a life moral conscience, without teaching them  utter dependency upon the strategies or grace brought by the Holy Spirit. This approach forces the person to work in the flesh in order to obey God’s laws  and energizes the passions of sin which are by the law. I think that one reason why we see such a flagrant abuse of pornography and pedophilia  amongst Roman Catholic priests, is this very tenant.  God has called very few people to a life of singlehood. To force a human being to remain unmarried in the name of being pleasing to God, without His calling, causes that person to  fall back into the law and promotes hyper sinfulness.

To  force Christian legislation upon human beings who have not had an encounter with Jesus Christ will shove the law upon them and surely bring out more hyper sinfulness.

For pastors or priests to build churches or ministries without dependency upon the wisdom or heavenly blueprints which the voice of the Holy Spirit brings, is a enormous catalyst for the activation of sin which comes through the law. I would rather not even build a church!  To birth something dysfunctional which will beget even more dysfunctionality , is nothing to feel proud of. This is the very thing which causes many to be turned off to God, church, or Christians. 

I believe that a church, ministry or any religious organization  that does not rely on Holy Spirit or the manifestation of spiritual gifts, is one of the greatest sin manufacturing entities on the globe. It squarely connects with attempting to please God, by the law, in the flesh,  thus galvanizing  the passions of sins.  For those who have this mind set, I would encourage you not to start a church or ministry lest you beget a legalistic sin laden flock that will turn off many.

We will continue tomorrow.

Romans Seven; Part One: What is The Law?

   

Rom 7:1¶  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

The basic premise of Romans 7:1-4 is that while a law of any type is in force, individuals within its influence are subjected to it.

A motorist driving through different parts of Miami Dade County, is subjected to different “laws of speed limits” while driving through the county.

Secondly, a law works on the principle that specific circumstances engender specific results. The law of gravity articulates that any time that we drop an apple from a certain height, it will always result in its falling to the ground.

Romans 3; 27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Faith is a law.

As a law, faith allows us to receive certain things which can be brought by faith. If we have a negative faith and expect the worse, unfortunately some of the very things that we believe for, we will receive on the premise that faith is a law.

For the law of faith to truly work it must be faith that is centered upon the voice of the Holy Spirit, or the rhema word of God.

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the ( RHEMA) word of God.

Paul goes on to say in Romans 7 that as long as a woman is married to a specific man she is subjected to the “law of marriage to that particular spouse”. The “law of marriage to that particular spouse” came into force, when the couple took their wedding vows. These vows bind the couple to the “law of marriage to that particular spouse” as long as both of them are living.

2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

If one of them dies, the remaining spouse becomes free from the “law of marriage to that particular spouse”, and is released to be married to another.

3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

If infidelity occurs while both spouses are alive, the person performing it is called an adulterer. However, if one of them had died, the indictment of adultery is not valid.

4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Verse 4 tells us that by the death of the body of Christ on the cross we experienced a death to the law.

At the moment that we invite Christ into our lives, we automatically are placed “In or Inside of Christ”, and experience all things that He went through. When He died, we died, when He was raised up, we were raised up by virtue that we are INSIDE of Him.  It is like being placed inside of a page of a book which is then closed. From now on, what transpires for the book occurs to you by virtue of being placed inside the book.

Therefore, when Christ died on the cross, by virtue of our being INSIDE of Christ, we died with Him.

A dead person, a corpse, becomes free from sin, sickness, and from being subject to any law.  When do we see a corpse cursing or taking drugs? When do we see a corpse with cancer? Everything dies. Apart from going in to the futuristic heavenly realm, there is no one human being freer than a corpse. This is why our death with Christ is so important. It has freed us from all things that do not pertain to God.

Romans 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.

  

Because we died IN Christ we became free from being subject to any earthly law, on the premise that a corpse cannot be subordinated to any  law.

 What law are we free from?

Romans 7:5  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

Paul begins his great work of explaining “the law of sin and death” which he culminates in Romans 8:2. It will take a few days of blogging to get through this vital and great discussion.

Roma 8: 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Paul says that when we were in the flesh the strong passions of sins which are produced by the law bring forth fruit unto death. Another interesting interpretation can be that when we were in the flesh, the SUFFERRINGS brought on by sins as they are activated by the law, bring forth fruit unto death. This clearly depicts the nature of sin.

What is the flesh that Paul talks about? For the unbeliever, he is always in the flesh, he has no other choice but to be in it, and to sin.  For the believer however, she has two options. She can conduct her life in the Spirit or in the flesh.

 To live in the flesh, is an to attempt by the Christian to serve God through human strength, or by mentally birthed agendas. On the other hand, to live Christianity by the Spirit, is serving God by the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.

   At any point that a Christian chooses to obey God outside of the voice of the Holy Spirit he goes back to the flesh.

5  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

The law that Paul discusses in Romans 7 is the comprehensive law, composed of over itemized 600 laws which God gave to Israel through the mouth of Moses. 

The purpose of this law was to show humanity its sinfulness.  If God had not given the law, people would have had no idea that they had a sin problem. If one drive through a foreign state and no speed limit signs are visible, you have no idea what speed to drive in.  If a cop stopped you because you were driving too fast, you could successfully argue your innocence because the state had not made itself responsible to post the speed limit signs. Without the knowledge of a law you are innocent of breaking the law, and innocent of sin. Without a law, you are not guilty of a particular sin, by its breaking it.

5  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

Therefore the activation of sin can only come when there is some law to point it out if we indeed violate it.  This is the premise of verse 5.

7 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.

   If God had not conveyed to the Jews that it was wrong to covet a neighbor’s property or wife, through a law, they would have been innocent of all coveting. 

8  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

 Without the law, sin is dead. In other words, without a law to point out to certain transgression, that transgression, is indeed not a transgression, because there is no law to point it out. The person can commit that particular transgression for the rest of his life, and if there is no law to point it out, the person will always abide in innocence.  Therefore, without the law sin is dead; it is not sin.

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

The dunamis power or the full ability of sin, to be sin, comes by the law which points it out and makes it sinful.

God had to bring the law into activity to convict humanity that indeed it is an exceedingly sinful lot. God knew that it was impossible for humanity to obey the 600 laws. The purpose of the 600 laws was to show humankind how exceedingly sinful we are and point His finger towards the future coming of Jesus Christ, through whom deliverance of all sin would come.

11  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

The next time you drive through that same state, and they have posted a speed limit sign, and you break the speed limit, now you are in trouble.  Verse 11 tells us that the particular law or commandment will definitely get me into trouble, whereas before, I was free to speed without that particular law.

13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding ( hyper or transcendentally sinful.)

Once again, the purpose of the law is to show us our exceeding, or better said, our “hyper” sinfulness.

5  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

Notice carefully what Paul tells us in verse 5.  Only when we walk ACCORDING THE FLESH, the passions of sin, which are produced by the law that points them out, are activated. That is so vital.

Conversely, if we are IN THE SPIRIT the motions of sin which are pointed to us as sin, by the law, ARE NOT ACTIVATED!!!  Wow! We will understand this reality in the days to come.

What if we are in the Spirit then, instead of being in the flesh? What happens then?

This is the beauty of what Jesus did. By his death on the cross we were loosed from having to obey God in the flesh. This is what liberty from the law means.

Once again, for the Christian, he is no longer forced to follow God by the flesh. Following God by the flesh will activate the motions of sin, but following God by the Spirit will not activate the motions of sin.

Remember that I told you that to walk according to the flesh, for the Christian, it to attempt to obey God outside of the voice of the Holy Spirit.

4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

By Christ’s death and resurrection we can now learn to obey God by the still small voice of the Spirit. Our old husband, the one who forced us to obey God in the flesh is now dead. We are free from the law of this husband. We are now married to a new husband. This husband, the resurrected Jesus, has liberated us, through His dead body so that we now obey God by the voice of the Holy Spirit and become free from the strong motions of sin. As I told earlier, a dead body, a corpse, is free from all law.  We became a corpse, by virtue of being INSIDE of Jesus, and are now free from having to obey God by the flesh.  Because we are no longer in the flesh and are not obligated to live in the flesh, the sufferings of passions of sins pointed out by the law, only when we try to obey God in the flesh, remain inactive or dormant in us.

We will continue more tomorrow.

Romans Six; I Vote to Keep the Hospice Dude on Life Support!

   

    

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man (palaios) is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

  Palaios can be defined as a toothless, 150 year old, cane walking, nursing home, better yet, hospice residing, man. The particulars of this old man are that at the same time he is the cruelest of beings. He is a slave trader, better yet a slave master. His slaves are all the men and the women of this world, no matter what religion, color or age they are. The makeup of this old man is that he has, and is, a sin producing engine.  He keeps human beings captured and blinded by releasing continual sin in them. He knows that that the only thing that can kill him is Christ and His cross, so he deceives people into hating Christ.

   He has deceived humanity so much, that it spends trillions of dollars to keep him alive, beautify him, exalt him, and protect him. The only purpose for this old man was to be killed by the cross of Christ. Yet people would rather reject Christ and continue to keep this dude alive.

This old man is the sinful nature that every human being is born with. Only Christ inside the human can wipe him out.

Yet it will do anything to keep him alive and well, before coming to Christ so that He can “eighty six” him.

Ah, the price tag of keeping sin going is in the trillions, and yet most people will continue to pay it until Christ comes back and finally promotes good politics. But for those who finally want to get rid of this decrepit and evil man Christ is always ready and available to you.

Become a KEEN Christian

The Hebrew word used for the tiny word “so” is one the most vital words in the Hebrew vocabulary. It is a little word spelled “keen”.

Two little words, with so much power and such an accurate description of who God is!

“Keen”, talks not only of something being done accordingly, thusly, exactly, just as it was originally planned.

It talks about establishing something real, creating an actual place, an object, or a factual reality.

God spoke ( amar/ rhema word) and it was so (keen)

There is nothing that we can do to create a fact or an object; This is something that God can only do. 

However we know that when God speaks He creates. It’s just who He is.

God’s creative nature is totally tied up in “keen”. Much of what He does is to produce the “keen”. So can you, by faith and the rhema word.

Exodus 3:14  (AV) And God said unto Moses, I AM ( Noun) THAT I AM (Verb): and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

The very factual object or reality which God wills, (Noun), He goes into the future, and by His action creates it (Verb). Thus, the I Am, that I Am.

I have listed a fraction of Hebrew entries for keen.  I would encourage you to do your own studies.

It’s the Strong’s Hebrew number # 3651.

Also, by the process of the “reckoning or accrediting by faith” begin to accredit as immediate realities or facts what you speak as a rhema word, from your heavenly invisible bank account, into your visible world.

Become a “reality” or a “fact” creator. That is what the Christian, in reality is all about!

Become a KEEN Christian!

Ge 1:7  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. (keen)

Ge 1:9  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. (keen)

Ge 1:11  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. (keen)

Ge 1:15  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

Ge 1:24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. (keen)

 Gene 6: 22¶  (AV) Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so (keen) did he.

 Gen 19:22  (AV) Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore (keen) the name of the city was called Zoar.

 Gen 18:5  (AV) And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So (keen) do, as thou hast said.

 Gen 21:31  (AV) Wherefore (keen) he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.

 Gen 42:21 ¶  (AV) And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this  (al keen)distress come upon us.

Ex 7:10  And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so (keen) as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

Ex 7:20  And Moses and Aaron did so, (keen) as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

Ex 7:22  And the magicians of Egypt did so (keen)with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.

Ex 8:7  And the magicians did so (keen) with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

Ex 8:17  And they did so (keen); for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Ex 8:18  And the magicians did so (keen)  with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so (keen) there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

Ex 8:24  And the LORD did so (keen); and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

Ex 12:28  And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so (keen) did they.

Ex 12:50  Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so (keen) did they.

What One Man Can Do Another Can Do.

Charles:    We’ll have to distract him and trap him, but it can be done.  
                  Do you believe it, Bob? 
                           You believe it? 
Robert:            I don’t know Charles. 
                        I don’t think it’ll work. 
Charles:            It will work! 
Robert:            No! 
Charles:            It will work.  What one man can do another can do.  
Robert:            You can’t kill the bear, Charles.  He’s… 
                        He’s ahead of us all the time, like he’s reading our minds. 
                        He’s stalking us, for God’s sakes! 
Charles:            You want to die out here, huh? Well, then die. 
But I tell you what… I’m not gonna die. No, sirree. I’m not gonna die. No, I’m gonna kill the bear. Say it, “I’m gonna kill the bear. I’m gonna kill the bear!” Say it! 
Robert:             I’m gonna kill the bear. 

This famous dialogue comes from a great movie, “The Edge” with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin.  When Mary and I saw it, I was ministering in the prophetic and other gifts. However, I was battling rejection from forty odd years as a severe stutterer. I was beleaguered with massive insecurity issues. The devils of fear, who had unceasingly tortured me from childhood, still played havoc with my thoughts.  The first rays of self-esteem were finally breaking through cobwebs of profound rejection.  I dwelt in the house of comparing myself to others and in the dungeon of self-criticism.  As this famous dialogue between Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins evolved, God broke through.

Trapped in icy Alaskan tundra after an airplane crash, Hopkins and Baldwin are being stalked by a killer grizzly bear (Bart, the Bear).  Baldwin (Robert) is convinced that he and Hopkins (Charles), will come to a horrendous end in the teeth of this huge creature. Baldwin paralyzed with terror is angrily challenged by Hopkins and these famous words.

 “What one man can do another can do…” . But I tell you what… I’m not gonna die. No, sirree. I’m not gonna die. No, I’m gonna kill the bear. Say it, “I’m gonna kill the bear. I’m gonna kill the bear!” Say it! 

I’m gonna kill the bear!!!   I’m gonna kill the bear!!!  

At this moment and in that scene, God’s flashing light from heaven knocked me down from the horse of fear as His voice thundered into my heart. It was the beginning of my road to victory.

What Billy Graham can do, you  can do. 
What Billy Graham can do, you can do. :  Say it again! 

 What Billy Graham can do, you can do. What Billy Graham can do, you can do. 

I’m gonna kill the bear of comparison!” Say it! I’m gonna kill the bear of comparison . Say it again. 

 What Kathryn Kuhlman can do, you can do. 
What Kathryn Kuhlman can do, you can do. :  Say it again! 

 What Kathryn Kuhlman can do, you can do. What Kathryn Kuhlman can do, I can do. 

I’m gonna kill the bear of fear!” Say it! I’m gonna kill the bear of fear . Say it again. 

What Smith Wigglesworth can do, you can do. 
What Smith Wigglesworth can do, you can do. :  Say it again! 
What Smith Wigglesworth can do, you can do.   What Smith Wigglesworth can do, you can do

I’m gonna kill the bear of rejection!” Say it! I’m gonna kill the bear of rejection . Say it again.

What Charles Finney can do, you can do. 
What Charles Finney can do, you can do.  :  Say it again! 
What Charles Finney can do, you can do. What Charles Finney can do, you can do. 

I’m gonna kill the bear of pain!” Say it! I’m gonna kill the bear of pain . Say it again

Go, and kill your bears!