New born babies mess their diaper, have to learn how to walk, how to eat and how to become
disciplined to succeed in life. This principle is entirely different from the attitude that the majority of people have of
being judgmental and preaching that born again believers are still sinners in God sight because of their behavior. We must
treat each other as Saints and young ones who are in training to become Priests and Kings in God's kingdom. Our sin nature
was dealt with at the cross and scripture tells us that we are the righteous in Christ meaning; we are already blameless,
innocent and set apart as unto the Lord. Our righteousness in Christ must be the only firm foundation in place if; we are
going to be delivered from a religious mentality. As long as the born again children
of God are being judged as sinners and not being taught their saintly position in Christ by loving parents who are called
by God to look after their souls and nurture them,
They will never mature and
recognize their call to greatness.
There are no words that I can come up with
as to the seriousness of this situation because; this concept of Christians being a sinner after being saved is being preached
in the majority of the born again churches of today. This is what is crippling God's children from going out into the
market places of life and doing the same works of Jesus because they continually stay in a mind set of trying hard to get
sin out of their life and it hinders the Holy Ghost from persuading them of their spotless and righteous position in Christ.
However; a born again believer who lives with the true knowledge that they are
breaking God's laws on purpose are defined in James 4:17 by him as "Any one who knows what is right to do but does
it not, to him it is sin." This condition can also exist if they are sitting under a religious atmosphere of preaching
that harps on behavior and that we have to try harder to clean up our act and fly right.
This
sin consciecness unto them self is caused by these two type atmosphere conditions and causes a person to focus on self and
they can't enter God's courts and confront God face to face expecting his favor because; their self esteem makes them
look at them self with spots and wrinkles and they fear the wrath of God.
Paul
the Apostle states this in Heb. 8:10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, says the Lord: I will imprint my laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave
them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Paul
is talking about every person having an intimate and personal living relationship with God. He is prophesying to the Israelite
people and he also talking to the Gentile people meaning us who are not of Jewish descent because; the Gentile people are
also being grafted in to the body of Christ because of the Jews not recognizing and acknowledging Jesus as being the Son of
God. This is why God turned to the gentile people because the majority of Jews are still waiting for Jesus to show up as their
Messiah. Christians are only those who follow a living God that comes to make a home in them and they become a tabernacle
of the Lord. Religion in its many forms are people following dead letter doctrines of do's and don'ts which has no
life or power to get in touch with a loving Father God of the universe.
We now
need to define this New Covenant that we entered into the day the kingdom of God came into us when we became born again. A
person who accepts Jesus sacrifice on the cross and has this miracle of becoming born again has the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
now residing in them. They also possess all of God's characteristics with His power and authority and the ability to live
by Jesus faith. This is entirely different then having faith in Jesus. When we live by Jesus faith, we give Him freedom to
give us a desire to do his will and also the power to do it because the Holy Ghost is motivating and empowering our life.
Paul says this in Philippians 2:13. "Not in your own strength for it is God who is all the while
effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure
and satisfaction and delight." Our surrendering to this scriptural principle is what delivers us from leaning towards
our own understanding of working hard to stay in God's graces. When we lean towards our own understanding; it puts us
living with a survivor mode mentality and we have a warfare going on in our mind where; we have to be persuaded by the Holy
Ghost to believe God's thoughts verses our own.
Man's human nature was
so damaged by Satan in the Garden of Eden that; it does not want to live under the control of being told what to do and, it
takes time and patience by us experiencing a unending love by God to deliver us from a mentality that is suspicious of a God
who we do not know or understand very well.
Our born again experience changes
us into a new creature as stated in 11 Cor. 5:17 and our old unregenerate suspicious nature has passed away and all things
have become new. In God's sight this is the way He receives us; although mankind and our undisciplined carnal flesh wants
to have security in something it has created in its own power; and its security is resting on man made foundations. It is
as we walk in this new covenant understanding by God's leadings and power that; we can be continually be renewed by the
Holy Ghost.
The word covenant in the Greek is diatheke: It means having a contract,
or having Christ's temperament at work in us and this happens as we become separated unto the Lord in all our experiences
of life. When we submit to this covenant and act on it; it causes our flesh nature to bow its heart and bend its knee and
sink into a white robe of righteousness as a covering over us which stops us from having a (guilty consciencness.) This robe
is the life of Jesus Christ Himself which causes us to stop judging ourselves by our outward behavior.
This spirit of guilt is a living entity and wants to side track us to concentrate on self rather
then what Christ's sacrifice at the cross gave us and it wants to stop us from staying in a mind set of experiencing all
that God wants to give us through Jesus one act. Guilt brings with it what I call its brother fear. When this happens, there
comes a feeling of being isolated and we feel as though we deserve some punishment because of something we have or not done.
Religion in its many forms makes self unrighteous decisions by using its conscience. There is a saying
I have heard for years that says "let your conscience be your guide." This is absolutely a lie from the pit of hell
because; it was our conscience that was damaged in the Garden of Eden and we cannot trust its leadings. We must live by hearing
every word that comes out of the mouth of the Holy Ghost in our inner man. We are God's temple if; the Holy Ghost lives
in us.
A person who does not have the Holy Ghost living in them is not a Christian
and therefore God can not be a nurturing Father to them. They are God's creation however, they are not His children in
a covenant or personal family relationship and God's covenant cannot be explained to them with passion and commitment
because; they do not have spiritual ears to hear God.
The next thing we need
to define is how this covenant came into being and how we need to relate with it. Our interacting with God's covenant
must be on an everyday personal relationship with the Holy Ghost.
Isaiah 28:10
tells us how it's done. "Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here
a little and there a little." This verse gives us the connotation that; there is a continual consciencness of a living
relationship with a person that is with us at all times. This is a far cry from going to church by taking time out of our
busy schedule once or twice a week to fulfill our spiritual obligation to stay in a right standing with God. Our new covenant
is a symbiosis of God's Spirit and our spirit becoming one and we becoming likeminded in vision and purpose with Him.
When Moses met with God at Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, he was
awe struck by the glory of God that he was experiencing and he had to cover his face with a veil when approaching the people
as he came down off the mountain to proclaim to them God's Ten Commandments because; the people could not behold God's
glory on Moses face.
This covenant that we entered into when we became born again
as God's children has such a holding power that; no demon or difficulty of life that we can encounter; can separate us
from God's loving grasp.
Scripture tells us that our lives are written in
the palm of His hand. The real issue is; our new covenant is not being taught and preached to the body of Christ as God intended
and because of this, they have a lack of vision and knowledge of their kingdom rights and it has kept them palsied and inept
as to whom they are in Christ. There is such an attack by the devil in the days that we are living to the degree that; he
is trying to rip the body of Christ from God's holding power in their minds and the body of Christ is unprotected because;
they do not know how to live and stay covered by their white righteous robe in Christ. This only happens because the majority
of them are still being told that they are a sinner; which causes them to continually look under their righteous robe and
see their faults and failures and they are using that as a standard or vision of them seeking for greatness.
In Deut. 4:23 and Heb.12:29 it states that; God is a consuming fire. There is also a story in Daniel
3 about three men who were called; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; who were put as rulers over a province by Nebuchadnezzar
the king. These were Jewish men who served the one true God and they would not worship the King's golden image that he
set up. So the king called them to his throne room to give an account of their behavior and this is what took place. Let's
remember that, Satan is constantly taking us to task to doubt God's holding power in our lives. I will paraphrase as we
go along.
In Daniel 3:14-28 it tells us. "Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and
fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and these men were brought before the king. Then Nebuchadnezzar said
to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I
have set up?
(This is man trying to make God into his own image.)
Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, dulcimer or bagpipe,
and every kind of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, very good. But if you do not worship, you shall
be cast at once into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, and who is that God who can deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego answered the king. O Nebuchadnezzar, it is not necessary for us to answer you on this point. If our
God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if
not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up!
Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and his facial expression was changed [to antagonism] against
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was usually
heated. And he commanded the strongest men in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning
fiery furnace. Then these [three] men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics or undergarments, their turbans, and their
other clothing, and they were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Therefore
because the king's commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame and sparks from the fire killed those
men who handled Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into
the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king [saw and] was astounded, and he jumped up and said to his counselors,
did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered, True, O king. He answered, Behold, I see four men
loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the form of the fourth is like a son of the Gods!
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and said, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, you who are servants of the Highest God; come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out
from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, the deputies, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered around together
and saw these men-that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed; neither was their garments
scorched or changed in color or condition, nor had even the smell of smoke clung to them. (No weapon formed against God's
children has a chance to prosper.)
Then Nebuchadnezzar said. Blessed be the God
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who believed in, trusted in Him! And
they set aside the king's command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, and language that speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses be made a dunghill, for there is no other God who can deliver in this
way! Then the king then promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon."
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were living in Babylon which means in the Hebrew, a spirit of confusion. This
world with its own religion is being manipulated by this spirit of Babylon. This is indeed a powerful testimony of three men
who had passion and tenacity to make a stand for God in spite of the fact that they could have died a gruesome death for their
beliefs. You will also notice that the Jews were God's people and they were in an important place in their arena of life
so God could use them as being the salt and light to their generation. This is where God has put all of his children and we
can only fulfill this call by walking and understanding our covenant with Him.
As
great a testimony as this is, we must point to a truth that is hardly ever mentioned in the pulpits of born again churches
of today. When we participate in having a total surrendering to the Righteous Spirit of God; a miracle is constantly taking
place within us; where God's Spirit of Righteousness as we give it free rein in our lives; burns up all the things in
our soul that hinders us from walking in freedom in our lives to fulfill His will by His power; and this must be the first
priority of our life.
This cleansing process of change taking place can be at
times scaring and uncomfortable. This is what it means when we say that; God is a consuming fire and this can only happen
as we obey and understand that God wants to have the ultimate power to order our steps so we can fulfill His purposes. Our
security is in His wisdom and strength and not any thing we can do or even attempt to do by some religious rite which is made
up by man to imitate the Holy Ghost's power. The human will has great masquerading ability to do acts that look righteous
however; God has nothing to do with its purposes.
In Malachi 3:1-3 the prophet
states. "BEHOLD, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me. And the Lord [the Messiah], whom you seek,
will suddenly come to His temple; the Messenger or Angel of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, He shall come, says the
Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's
fire and like fullers' soap; He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons
of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness."
This fuller's soap in the Hebrew means that; God will be purifying us so we will be a light and
shining beacon to the world. Only as we allow the Holy Ghost to flow His Righteous Spirit through our own personalities and
have us prophetically speak in the name of the Lord, will we be able to have signs and wonders follow our encounters as we
minister to people who God sends into our life in our particular arena of life.
John
the Baptist states this in Matthew 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more
powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He will separate
and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
We are not talking about some people going to hell here and some going into God's
barn for storage. This chaff is refuse and things that have to be burned up in us that come into conflict with God's thought
pattern; by God as a loving Father chastising every one of His children whom he loves. Our walk in Christ's Righteous
Spirit has a life of its own and a person must have a demonic veil over their spiritual thinking to not want a walk like this
with God. When a person walks with this demonic veil (which is a beguiling spirit) over their spiritual understanding of their
covenant rights in God, this causes them to be spiritually bankrupt and deceived in their freedom to enjoy God's presence.
If we are going to be respected by the unsaved world as being peculiar people
of God as scripture tells us, we must be having these firing furnace experiences with power to be the witness that we need
to be. People who live in their own religious state of mind or self righteous mentality have no clue as to who they are in
Christ and how God sees them. When we do not flow in God's righteous Spirit; what we do is worship other gods. This is
indeed living in severe ignorance and loss as God's kids. (How tragic)
You
can be a born again believer have God's righteous Spirit in you and not walk in it because; you have never been taught
the basic foundational principles of kingdom living and how God's covenant works. This condition has existed in the born
again church since Jesus physically left the planet and has been gaining strength ever since with false interpretation of
scripture.
If we are truly going to understand how God's covenant works;
we must see that Jesus came not into the world to condemn it but; to deliver it from its many bondages of being an enemy unto
itself. If you go into the hospitals of today to pray for the sick; you go with mercy and power; you do not tell the cancer
patient who is dying that the reason he is sick is because God's trying to get his attention or he caused this sickness
to come upon himself.
The Apostles had the same problem of condemning people
as they were being discipled by hanging out with the Lord as they went town to town as Jesus ministered to the needs of the
people and they were in training by Him.
They went into one town and the Apostles
felt like the people did not give Jesus the honor that he deserved and they asked Him if; they could call fire down from heaven
and destroy them. Jesus had to rebuke them by telling them that He did not come into the world to condemn it but to save it
them from themselves. He also rebuked them because He told them that with that type of reasoning coming out of their mouths;
their father the devil was talking through them. So we see that we must be on our guard to not live in ignorance as to our
position in the kingdom of God because; it causes us to be the devil's advocate and not the Lords.
It's only as we hunger and thirst with our Righteous Spirit of Christ that will protect us from
being caught up in all the false interpretation of scripture and the cunning of the devil's devices to sow mingled seed
in our hearts and minds contrary to God's passions and true identity. When mingled seed is sown, this causes the body
of Christ to be scattered from walking with in God's protected hedge and the devil divides and conquers the body of Christ.
Most Christians do not understand who and what the enemy is and it cause division and discord within the body of Christ.
Ignorant unlearned born again people have no way of fighting the devil's devices in this inept
state of mind. We must if we are serious about following Christ; focus our entire efforts on what it tells us in Matthew 6:33
which states. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other needs you have will be supplied."
Religion represents (self) righteousness in its many forms. Anything we do in our own thinking contrary to the word of God
is meaningless when it comes from the mind of man's thinking.
That's
why Paul the apostle tells us in Romans 12:1-2 "I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all]
the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice,
holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual
worship. Do not be conformed to this world (Babylonian Age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs],
but be transformed changed by the [entire] renewal of your mind by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove
for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect
in His sight for you."
Our spiritual man in us; is to be exercising and
judging everything we hear in or outside of the church building through our continuing dialogue with the Holy Ghost who lives
in us. Scripture tells us that the truth will set us free from any fouled up thinking as to how to live with power in God's
kingdom if; we will receive it. I have found that as long as my spirit within me is seeking for a higher wisdom then my own;
it stabilizes my security in God as I seek Him. If you have read this far in this article; I believe you qualify as to being
a God seeker.
We must depend and ask God to give us the tenacity to totally submit
to the Holy Ghost's leadings because; only He can add to our continuing education and give us the assurance of how we
were permanently and forever engrafted into God's family as His child. His holding power of love must be planted deep
within our subconscious mind. I have found that in my seeking after God, I feel like wanting to swim in an ocean that has
no bottom to it. God help us to put him first in our life which is the only way we will get a greater vision of His call;
as we seek Him with an unquenchable hunger to know Him better on a moment to moment basis.
