Nobody Told Me About 'Good Flesh'

...And by saying "nobody" it obviously isn't the case, I have learned about it through a mentor and I am so thankful!  Since I used the term "good flesh" over and again in conversations last week, the Spirit is leading me to just put it in a blog post.

Most believers can easily explain how sin happens; it happens when someone isn't obeying God's commands.  "Do not steal.  Do not lie.  Do not dishonor one's parents."  We could call failures in these ways, "bad flesh" - when the flesh acts out in ways that are in disagreement with God's law.  But there is a more insidious case of fleshliness, one that is much, much harder to discern from the Spirit.  Why is it harder?  Because it looks and acts just like someone who obeys God's laws.  At least, as far as most believers can detect on a less intimate level.

What does "good flesh" look like?

When I'm in good flesh, sometimes, I'm quoting scripture.  Sometimes, I'm leading someone through the gospel.  Sometimes I am getting groceries out of my pantry for a neighbor, or helping a friend across town.  Sometimes it's when I raise my hand in Sunday School.  I can be in good flesh and start a blog post.  (Okay, I'm praying right now to get me out of good flesh, because believe it or not, this is difficult to deny in myself!)

Don't all those things sound so Godly?

Don't be deceived.  I'm trying not to be.

"But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way..."

Let me explain what is at stake, the best way I know how.  Anytime anyone takes you on a tour of God's commands to disciple you, what happens in your soul?  I will tell you what happens in mine.  When someone shows me God's standards, I have tried to be the most willing and pliant of people.  Unfortunately I hear only at a certain depth, the first time I am told about God's goals for me.  This first depth is almost always, "good flesh."  It tries.  It is ready for a challenge.  It wants to grow, to develop, to be proven a good student.  It wants to perform when told there is something important at stake.

And there is a negative response in "good flesh."  It feels pressure when the discipleship program comes back for round two, three, ... fifty.  "Good flesh" looks at the same challenge on some days, and doesn't get excited.  It wants to hide.  It wants to avoid.  The mind gets foggy, not knowing where they are and where they are ultimately going.  It causes hurt.  It causes confusion.  Then later, the fog lifts because the soul gets tired of the path of pressure.  Just like it became tired of challenging itself.   There is a constant oscillation of "I'm ready for a challenge, again!" and then disillusionment and confusion come back once more.

There is no middle ground, with "good flesh."

Fortunately for us, God uses the law in a Spiritual way, oftentimes, for us after our first hearing.  He has mercy on us and intercedes for the will of God in our lives.  If our hearts are truly repentant, we will "hear" later, that same program of discipleship all around us.  We will hear it in the words of other believers and even unbelievers.  We will hear it in the Bible when we were reading for another purpose.  We'll hear it in our escapist tv programs.  And most importantly, in our experiences and our attempts to understand God's will in the moments of our lives, we'll hear it when it's time to attempt a new level of obedience.

I have a feeling that Paul's number one concern of sin in the Epistle of Romans, is "good flesh," not "bad flesh."  Think about chapter 2 when he tried to reason with the righteous as measured by God's law.  Think about chapters 6 through 10 which Paul uses to save us from the mistakes of Israel and their fate in Romans 11.  He wants our experience of salvation to be actual "saving" from the flesh in every aspect of life.  Let's read through Romans 7 and into Romans 8, 9 and 10, with the idea of "good flesh" being enemy #1.  I'm so glad God showed this to me recently.  Romans 7:6, 8-9 -

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.  What shall we say, then?  Is the law sin?  Certainly not!  ...  But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.  For apart from the law, sin is dead.  I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.  And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.  

Any program of discipleship or shepherding using commands and ideals from God's Word cause good flesh to respond.  It is an imperfect program of sanctification.  Not because the law itself is bad.  The law is Spiritual.  But we still have flesh and it wants to respond.  Does the law not tell you, "perform"?  Of course!  And this is exactly why, after some time of investing heavy personal efforts, those who are taking us through a tour of God's Word say... "Umm, you still don't demonstrate that you get it."  How frustrating!  I call this stage, fog.  I think Paul does, too.  Romans 7:15,18, 22-25

For what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  ...  ...for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  ...  For I delight in the law of God according to 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.  O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Anytime we fall short of perfection, guess which realm made it happen?  The flesh.  Our minds can "hear" on that first level every single day what God is leading us to become. But how to become it, defies us, as soon as our will is to manifest it.

The good news is, God understands the problem very well.  Let's read Romans 8:1, 3-4 -

There is now no condemnation, for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  ...  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us....

Jesus stood in the place of attempting the will of God; His attempts stand in the place for our attempts.  He gave us a way of being in response to the expectations of God, and have complete and utter victory.  So this is what is at stake: we can walk in what Christ accomplished, or we will walk in the realm of getting all fired up to live up to the challenge of God's Word.  Every Christian deed we attempt will be judged this way: Romans 8:13 -

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The law was meant to sanctify us.  Even though it can't.  There is still a way that it can.  "But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect.  For they are not all Israel who are of Israel" (Romans 9:6).  Let's read Romans 10:5-9 -

For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, 'The man who does those things shall live by them.'  But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, 'Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say?  "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe that in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

There is a perfect picture of the silly maze of good flesh.  It either gets pumped up to rise itself to the occasion (ascends), or it wants to run and hide in fog and surrender (descends).  But faith offers a sane middle road.  It believes what Romans 8 just taught.  What the flesh could not do, God did by sending Jesus Christ on behalf of sinful flesh.  If we want to escape good flesh - we call out Jesus Christ as Lord.  If we put to death the deeds of the body through resurrection power (Rom 8:11), we will live!

Remember, Paul asked "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24).

Israel stumbled over and rejected the righteousness available by faith.  Faith says this when it hears the law: "The word of God is near you."  Another words, The Word is a Presence!  He is in your heart (Jesus was raised from the dead) and He is in your mouth (confess that Jesus Christ is Lord).

Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame (Romans 10:11).  Paul experienced that shame as a Christ follower in Romans 7, he even called himself wretched.  Christ followers are thus taught how to escape the error that the Israelites made - they did not call on God in Isaiah 28:16 -

Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.

My hope for myself, is this.  When I hear the Word of God, and a fellow believer most thankfully has aspirations to see my life embody it, I will stop where I am and not be inspired to try.  I will believe that Jesus is available and ready to obey it perfectly in my place.  He is the sane middle road.

Raise the Banners

Those who looked on at Calvary scratched their heads.

For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God (2 Cor. 13:4).

This is the gospel that Paul gave his life to defend. He preached "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be according to grace" (Rom 4:16), to both the lost and the saved (Gal. 5:5).

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving (Col. 2:6-7).

His one bitterness was with brethren who were in Christ but recanted their sufficient faith; a tragic irony (Gal. 5:11-12). But I'm sold out. I want my stake in the earth to look like this.

"The Christological Symbol (Brazen Serpent Sculpture), created by Italian artist, Giovanni Fantoni, stands atop Mount Nebo. It is symbolic of the bronze serpent created by Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4-9) and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified (John 3:14)."

This is a picture of God's invitation to put on the offense of Christ.

It is the stone of stumbling for those wrestling with God's terms of faith alone (Rom. 9:33). It is the most powerful teaching in the world, because it proclaims our reality of life in God; righteousness is ours by faith in His Son and not from ourselves (1 Cor. 1:18). I forget to meditate on what "grace" really implies here and now in His Body. It implies that sinners can, without any merit, be imputed with Christ's righteousness.

If you, LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared (Ps. 130:3-4).

At Calvary, evil was crucified (Heb. 10:14).

If we wave around the offense of Christ like a banner, we know that this world is struggling with believing it, and they quicken our sufferings. Their reproaches reflect a wrestling with God's grace. That's okay with me; if I no longer live, but Christ does, I "fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ" (Col. 1:24). And He told us this would happen (Phil. 1:29).

Which one causes sin?

Which of these leads to licentious living?

No law (but letting the Spirit lead in His timing)
or
Receiving commands for godliness

?

My First Day Without FG

Today marks the very first day where our church has been absent of teaching in free grace theology in some six or seven years.

Today was also my appointment with two women leading the women's bible study. I wrote a post about it (lacking peace), but the LORD has humbled me between then and now. They were gracious. I was gracious. We had a wonderful time of discussion and prayer.

They had never heard of Lordship Salvation, but, because of what I delivered to them, they researched and realized that it was error. They were grateful. The new meaning to the saying "the sovereignty of God" was something they desired to steer clear of.

We also talked about the nature of Christ considering how his mission while on earth was to do the Father's will. She read 1 cor 15:24-28:

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

I replied that this happens to be a favorite JW passage to "prove" the diminutive nature of Jesus Christ, but the only word I have found which speaks to Jesus Christ's diminutive place in relation to the Father God, is the term "greater" which is used maybe some fifteen times in the gospels. As far as I am aware, however, the term "greater" speaks to rank or class, not to nature or especially deity. I believe that while a man Jesus was still the sovereign God, but submitted to Another in free will and by love.

Then we moved into the topic of obedience, and they affirmed me that faith is the only way to please Him once we have become children of God. I stressed how important freedom is and quoted Romans 4:15, which says:

...for where there is no law there is no transgression.

Believers are without commandment because commandments were nailed to the cross in Colossians 2:13-14:

He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

In Christ we are free from any requirement. These ladies automatically shared their concern for licentiousness or false profession, and I said, "can we just say that eternal rewards (or loss) are due for those who think they can conduct themselves as they please? For that which is done in the dark will be made plain on that Day, and each one will receive what they have sown. Therefore walk in the Spirit and you will not obey the desires of the flesh." Both ladies appreciated this approach.

I found out that their heart was just like mine; they too were concerned over stirring faith by the Word of God and avoiding the mistake of pharisaical "churchianity." I was greatly pleased and satisfied. One of these ladies has taken my materials to another bible study and used them for starting discussion.

(A little earlier in the morning, my husband went to the men's bible study and they had a short discussion over whether or not they thought that the "doctrine of eternal rewards" was biblical. They went around the room and each man spoke, and all but one said that eternal rewards is not scriptural. Then, later this evening my husband came home and we had another discussion about it.)

It's hard to be a single voice. Day one was tough. But so far I am not discouraged. :D

Suffering with Doubt

Sometimes people ask me what I believe. Or they ask me what I'm up to. I just shake my head and frown. When I am going through a difficult time, I just can't seem to be able to give an explanation. No ideas come to mind, no words come out of my mouth. It's almost like I suffer amnesia -- where did that go, again?

When my pastor announced his leaving recently, it was like this; I went through a few days of involuntary recalibration. Doubt, over my place and my own beliefs. It isn't persecution, but it is a kind of suffering that happens when I realize I am the only one who believes and serves in the fashion I am. I go back to the Word of God. It eventually rescues me.

The doctrine that rescues me over and over again is sanctification by faith alone. I read Galatians and I realize that the truths in chapter three are the truths that not only affect my own personal peace in Christ but also the peace I might extend to others around me, as well as the difference in my theology in comparison to most every person I have ever known.

This latest period of doubt unusually found me thumbing through a book I purchased on the topic. I rarely pick up books on the topic of law vs. grace because they often disappoint, telling me things I already am enduring in the people I live amongst. This one was different; I bought it at the local free grace seminary because it was ordered as the text for the class titled, "Romans and Galatians."

In it [1], the material from chapter fifteen which is titled "Sanctification: The Wrong Way by Works of the Law," says of Romans 7:6 (one of my most favorite verses in the bible),

[Paul] could not say that the law dies. The law of God never dies. The Jews would have had Paul in a moment, had he said the law died. He says that we were made dead through the death of Christ. We died with Him, and that broke the relationship. That is the application.

But that is not the end. To paraphrase Paul, "You died to the law in order that you should be joined to another, that is, Him who was raised from the dead, so that you might be fruitful to God." And so, while some say this is a dangerous doctrine, that of being dead to the law, do not forget that there are two things that go together: first, freedom from the law; second, union with Christ. And that combination makes it safe!

There it is. I don't need an army of others who can say this. I just need one, maybe two or a handful of comrades, and I think I might remain fulfilled. I had forgotten I had skimmed to this chapter when I first bought the book in February of 2008. I remember that I'd read it, and then I knew that this group of people known as "free grace" could and would defend the truth found in the Word of God. Our victory in enduring obedience in Christ, is caught up in this teaching, I am convinced. The battle, is real. The goal, is worth fighting for.

WIth my methods, too, sometimes I can't seem to explain what I am up to, what my values are and how they are God-honoring. Yesterday though, out they poured. I got it out in words, again, thank the LORD!

A short conversation with JP at his blog.

Yes... I sometimes suffer with doubt.



[1] McClain, Alva J. Romans: The Gospel of God's Grace. Winona Lake, Indiana: BMH Books; 1973, pg. 153

Sanctification through Faith: my Free Grace Instruction

As I already mentioned in a post last September, my sunday school teacher (who is free grace, in theology), is still teaching in concert with "The Finality of the Cross," by Bob George.

He and I have been discussing via email, the chapter ahead of time, because I read ahead and discovered the content of chapter four, titled "Reconciliation is Experienced by Faith." I was so excited! We begin this material on this upcoming Sunday. Many of you who have read here in recent months have noticed that I am preoccupied by the topic. This is a portion of the excitement I recently shared with my pastor over this material:

Have you ever like, known something, like, you knew it, you just didn't know how to verify and explain it well? This is why I always catch you to try and work on this with me, because I think I needed to explicitly hear this. Here it is in this chapter! This guy gets it. This guy gets the same kinds of truths that I've been trying to say, and he's bold about it! This is the message I have "never heard" out there in evangelical Christianity, even in so close a place as other sunday school classes here. I knew... that it had to be faith (alone). I got that part, down, in my letters years ago. What I just couldn't get is how and why and the scriptures to really explain it, when Calvinism was also on board in my thinking. ...

I received his AMEN in conclusion after further discussion I share below. It's what I wrote as my idea of distinguishing sanctification by faith alone:

I just want to use Rom 8 to describe how to be sanctified: "walk according"

This one is superior because it explains that the flesh and the Spirit are dominating natures, and that we have a choice for which we will obey, and whatever one we obey it is completely for, or completely against, God. NO guess-work, no self-introspection. "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." rom 8:6-8

I just want it to be clear, crystal clear. At the Seminary I heard it described as "an on and off switch." I really grabbed on to that illustration.

The gospel should not be complicated, but the church has made it complicated and impossible to be sure how God sees us in faith.

Why is it important to be clear about the sufficiency of sanctification's faith? Because with doubt people turn back to measuring their progress by other things; law or comparing to other believers. And if they buy this as their doctrine of sanctification, the gospel of justification often follows quickly behind it for corruption in the same manner: they have turned the gospel into "another gospel."

But our assurance in knowing that we are blameless because we walk by faith with God, is not based in ourselves, but upon the promises in scripture.

Now, dear ones, I want to share with you the study material from chapter 4 so that you may objectively decide for yourselves what you think of George's teaching. This is going to be long, but worthwhile I am convinced. Enjoy, and, begin[1]:

"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son..." (John 3:16). Out of His love for you and me, God sent His Son into the world to reconcile us to Himself by "not counting men's sins against them" (2 Corinthians 5:19). It is not enough, however, just to know the message. God desires for us to experience His love and forgiveness, and to "be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20). The Bible says that we can come to Him and experience His reconciliation by no other way than faith!

Key Verse: Ephesians 2:8,9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

1. How does this verse say we are saved? By ______ through ______.

2. What does "grace through faith" mean?

3. According to Romans 10:17, from where does your faith come?

4. Would you say that grace refers to the work of Jesus Chrit in providing, through His death and resurrection, everything that we need to become a child of God?

5. We can conclude, then, that our salvation is not of _______, it is the _______ of God.

Faith is not General, but Specific

We often hear it said of someone, after experiencing a particularly trying ordeal, that it was his or her "faith" that pulled them through - only to learn later that he or she was referring to something like "faith in the destiny of man," "faith in an ideal," or "faith in a dream." While some of these generic "faiths" may be of some questionable value in keeping one "focused" for a time, the Bible is much more specific in its definition of "saving faith." The grace of God has provided an object for our faith in the Person of His Son... that whoever believes in Him (not in an ideal nor an ethic nor a dream - but in Him) should not perish but have eternal life. Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

(Hebrews 3:18-4:1)

1. In this account, what disqualified those in the desert from entering into His rest?

2. What, specifically, was their disobedience?

3. What do you think they did not believe concerning entering the promised land?

4. What did the writer to the Hebrews mean when he said, "since the promise of entering his rest still stands?" (4:1)

5. What do you think "entering his rest" refers to?

6. How could you be found to have fallen short of that promise?

7. What is the work of God according to John 6:29?

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

8. In John 6:40, what is God's will concerning those who look to His Son?

"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

9. How could we "fall short" of God's promise of eternal life?

Walk in Him Just as You Received Him

So, then, just as you received Jesus Christ as Lord, continue to live in Him (Colossians 2:6)

1. How did you receive Christ Jesus as Lord?

2. How does the apostle Paul say that you should continue to live in Him? "... just as _______________, that is, by _______."

3. How are we to live according to Hebrews 10:38?

But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."

4. What do you think it means to live by faith?

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

1. How did you receive the Spirit?

2. Did Christ come to live in you because you observed the law or because you believed what you heard?

3. Based on the above passage, could we ever experience, through our own human efforts, the reconciliation that God has provided?

4. Could we experience forgiveness through our own human efforts?

5. What is the only way then for us to "be reconciled to God"?

6. What does it take to please God according to Hebrews 11:6?

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7. If faith is the only way to be reconciled to God, why do you think faith is the only way to please God?

8. What is God's desire for you and me according to 2 Corinthians 5:18-21?

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

9. What is the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1?

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

10. List some things that you would hope to receive from God concerning sin, punishment and forgiveness?

11. Through the death of Christ on the cross, can you be sure that God is not counting your sins against you, that Christ has taken all the punishment for your sins, and that you have total forgiveness of sins?


We must walk by faith; however, faith must have an object. It is like swallowing. You can swallow wholesome food and live to grow or you can swallow poison and die. The same mechanism is used for both. It is not the swallowing that causes life or death; it is what you swallow that determines life or death.

In the same way, it is not your faith that saves you. It is your faith in Jesus Christ that saves you. It is not your faith alone that sustains you in your Christian walk; it is your faith in the love and grace of God demonstrated in Christ Jesus. The object of the Christian's faith, therefore, is Christ's unconditional love and his finished work on the cross.



[1] George, Bob. "A Closer Look at The Finality of the Cross," People to People Ministries, Carrollton, TX, 2006; pp. 23-27.

Ker-pow!

This week I'm taking the course "Gaining love for the Hebrew Scriptures" taught by Dr. Ron Allen. What a delight this course is, filled with anecdotes of bridging cultural gaps of customs and language.

He talked a good deal over the law, and... it appears I've been grossly out-of-balance! Or perhaps I just couldn't understand till now, and I had been wondering this for a long time, why the Law seemed to be such a pleasant thing in the descriptions of the Old Testament writings.

I laugh. There goes the worth of my greatest obsession (law vs. grace)? Oh well.

Apparently the law was "do-able" and even gracious during the era when it was given. Only the Pharisees at the time of Jesus interpreted it in a way that left grace out of the equation. How interesting!

At least now I can answer why God gave the law in the first place, if it apparently was not "destined" to make us be so utterly broken. He did not give it that way, for that purpose, at all.

Cool!!!

I Wear Freedom Boldly

When strangers come together in one place, they pass these little stickers out and everyone puts one upon their shoulder. On this sticker they usually write their name and where they come from.

Today at this time I know that I am a sinner, I have plenty of reasons why I know that God is essentially displeased with things I do and say. But I have no fear, by faith. I run to faith because there with Christ I know no unspiritual man might rightly condemn me. There the One who trains me is sufficient to get the whole job of sanctifying my life, complete.

Recently I attended the Free Grace Alliance National Conference in Arlington, Texas. I was alone as I flew on a plane and stayed in a hotel room for a couple nights, and (with one obvious exception) I did not know if anyone I knew, would be there. But I was not truly alone. I knew from the moment I purchased the tickets, Who I went for. Upon my shoulder I wrote this inwardly: "The Reputation of Christ." Galatians 2:17....

"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!"

Is this not an amazing privilege? I think so. Who would not be eager at the chance?

I'm passionate about the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit to lead, correct, rebuke, reproof.... Yeah, I sin, I'm "crossless," and at times I've been a fool. But still I have no fear! The very boldness that comes by faith alone in Christ alone is the most powerful sermon ever offered at any time, anywhere, in my heart and way of thinking. His calling is to proclaim and defend this Gospel.

The LORD has been good to me. It has been kindness, and it's undeserved, even apparently.

See my previous two posts for more on this:
Conference's Confirmation
Saved Through Faith?

Saved Through Faith?

Yesterday I was in sunday school with Pastor Greg. We were discussing the implication of Romans 14:23

everything that does not come from faith is sin

I asked, "How do we fulfill this so that everything we do is... not sin?"

He asked me for more input. So I gave Romans 8:1...

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

He asked me, "Is Romans 8:1 discussing justification's righteousness or sanctification's?"

I said, "Umm, I think it's sanctification...."

He said after pausing, "Yes, that's right."

We talked about it in class. Then he came up to me later at church afterward and we talked about it some more. If a saved man reaches out to God and puts his trust in God, even if it is for only one issue that he looks toward God, then, at that time, he is walking with God according to the Spirit, and not the flesh.

When we are walking by faith, there is no more condemnation. We are seen at that time as holy, without blemish, spotless, met in Christ. For what the law was unable to do God did by sending His Son so that the requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. The whole law is fulfilled in us at those times, because we walk with the imputed righteousness earned by, and union-ed with us in communion with, Christ.

Some of the great things we do as Christians, if not done by faith (by trusting God to deliver) are... sin?

Maybe this is what Paul was talking about. He already had done so much for the church. Could he sit on his laurels?? Did God permit him to keep on doing former works when they no longer required faith? Philippians 3:7-8 ...

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Paul couldn't call righteous any longer, the activities he once did in his life, in times passed. Some things that had been righteous because they required faith, had eventually become sin because it became routine, not inspired and founded by faith! Routine does not require faith, does it?

Is this the only place where faith can live? Romans 8:24-25

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Free Grace is on-target to not measure sanctification or justification, by obedience manifested outwardly in men. God does not measure us as we measure each other. He said, "The just shall live by faith."

All that law, all that conformity, has a certain value if it weren't for the need for man's inner regeneration in faith. But because "without faith it is impossible to please God," we move and have our being in union with Christ, alone.

So, I guess it is true. Faith really has nothing to do with the law, at all. Galatians 3:12 "The law is not based on faith."

We save ourselves, we save others not to conformity, but to faith. Spiritual union with Christ is our very life and salvation.

compromise before truth?

i see grace


I have heard a few fair assumptions about the bare-bones belief I have on what it takes to be saved. Too, I have heard a fair assumption of the kind of ministries I take, mostly with promiscuous, poor, young women, both professed believers and non-believers. One more time, I have heard people make a comparison between my childhood environment and my current beliefs.

They sound like this:

"Well I can understand that you are probably reading your experiences of salvation into it, letting them dictate what you believe about the Word."

"It's good that you can understand that scenario better than me and so you're just trying to take their side since no one else will."

"Oh, well when you were growing up every detail of life was controlled and now you love freedom."

I can understand why these things are said, because it certainly looks like it.

But what really happened? You remember my testimony, right?

What was it that made me start reading the Word of God? It was someone telling me that without baptism I could not have truly been saved. So I started reading the bible on baptism. (By the way, I had had enough with being told answers so I did not consult anything except the bible itself.) There are only a handful of verses. Then I noticed that Paul was explaining what did save, which was faith. Good. But I needed to prove to myself that somehow, baptism was not the act which invoked salvation in tandem with faith. I noticed that Paul wanted to say that faith is separate from law. I didn't understand what that whole thing really was about. But I could prove that baptism was a command, so therefore, it must not be part of what saves.

But how could I prove it to someone else, in a way that would be indisputable? I had to make such a clear separation that salvation could not include any requirement for a commandment -- I mean, if I indeed was on the right path. So I began to study law versus faith. I found a whole treasure of passages where Paul makes it very clear that law was something to be discarded. Wow! Now that I know how finite law would be to include in salvation, and how sufficient faith is, I knew that whatever other issue might come along, it must all pass the test of Paul's teaching that salvation was by faith, apart from all law.

That faith could be defined in such a way that it meant works, could not be true.
That law could be defined in such a way to not include every kind of law, ever given, could not be true. In fact, I prove so here.

Everything must pass the test of the principles of grace reigning over any kind of law.

Some people, when they read my conclusion that "the law is inappropriate for Christians," hear chaos.

But that's not what I hear.

When I see the vacancy left by law, I see grace having all the room, the Spirit of God having the freedom to work, and the power and glory all being given to God as He has already set forth to receive in the New Covenant.

And indeed, it is the reason why Paul writes things like:

"But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person..." or for anyone who walks by faith with God. 1 tim 1:8

Oh, so essential to victory!

"But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." rom 7:6

Even our sanctification should be guarded from intrusion of law!

"Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'" gal 3:5-6

And now, wherever I go in scripture, I see grace, covering over everything when a man gives his trust. I see Abraham justified because God simply made a promise. This is the "promise" by which we are included as described in Romans chapter 4!! God made that promise and Abraham believed it in chapter 15. That was before God said: "I make a covenant with you" in chapter 15, and before God inaugurates it in chapter 16, when the LORD walks in between the carcass broken in two. All these details of the covenant took place after "it was credited to Abraham as righteousness."

Why do I hang with the unlovlies? Why do I speak secondarily of the facts of what Jesus has done?

Because I know that faith has preeminence over all. Where there is faith, there is the power of God. The bible told me so.

Two years after I had made this discovery of Paul's teaching of law versus faith, I looked back over my testimony, my story of being converted, and noticed the grace being woven throughout. I just woke up and saw the beauty in it, one day. And now I talk about it.

Does the reputation of Christ suffer?

Does the reputation of Christ suffer when others see we aren't living a scriptural lifestyle?

“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

When we are scared or troubled by our inadequacies as Spirit-led Christians, maybe we need to hear the same message Paul said to Peter in Antioch here in Galatians 2:14:

“When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’”

We cannot be in the business of using the law on anyone to arouse them in obeying God. We can rebuke that path to “forming obedience” as a subtle maker of slavery to sin because of fear and submission to a law out of a rejection (in part) of the sufficiency of the cross, that the devil has always used as a scheme to create frustrated believers.

Here's a mystery verse:

2 cor 13:8 "For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.”

Because when we need grace we can still preach grace!

"Do we nullify, then, the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law." rom 3:31

(feedback??)

What is the vehicle by which we gain freedom from sin?

It’s faith, a faith that at no time includes a law except for the inner-man law of faith in Christ. We are set free to serve Christ when we are dead to all outer-man requirements. To review:

--By dying to sin, we are released from the law 7:6
--For apart from law, sin is dead 7:8
--Therefore do not let sin reign 6:12
--Sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire 7:8
--For sin shall not be your master, for you are not under law, but under grace. 6:14

When we list the requirements for becoming like Christ, we make it harder for that believer to live in His miraculous power.

"You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen away from grace." gal 5:4

Looking forward to feedback!

What then is the purpose of the law?

Even to Christians, when they read the New Testament or the commandments of Jesus or the apostles, they think, "But, how? " "I'm not good enough," "I can't" "That's too hard," "I'll try," "I wish I could be like that" "I already do this I don't need to worry," "I won't." All of these are normal, but, sinful responses to the law. The law is designed to show us the need to abandon our efforts in a way that is trusting God to supply obedience, to supply righteousness.

What is the purpose of the law?

“The law was added so that the trespass might increase.” rom 5:20 This is contrary, then, to the goal of the Christian. Is it right to preach the law amongst Christians? I think so, but only if it does not but rarely leave out a concentrated explanation of what happened at the cross. It is advantageous for a Christian to be shown how to properly handle the word of God.

“But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 cor 3:14-17

Reading Moses (the Ten Commandments) without a Mediator increases confusion, increases the hardness of our hearts. But when we turn to the Spirit of God, we do not have that complication. That is why this covenant is better.

“We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, ...,--and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God...” 1 tim 1:8-11 So the law is made for those who do not walk in fellowship with God.

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' "Do not steal,' 'Do not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." rom 13:8-10

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." rom 8:2-4

The law was only a shadow, the inferior and now obsolete way of the reality and fullness which dwells in the person of Christ.

If I have to become something more in order to be seen as righteous in the eyes of God, that means that as a Spirit-led believer alone I am not good enough. The Mediator supplied through my faith isn’t sufficient. If there is a perceived insufficiency in faith in Christ to produce a Godly life, then there is a lack of trust for the work of the Holy Spirit.

Any list we might assert beyond “Christ crucified” for pursuing holiness, is a resurrection of the written code. The written code was nailed to the cross in Colossians 2:14 and declared what kills us spiritually in 2 Cor 3:6 and already fully met whether we understand it or not in Rom 8:4

We serve God in a completely new fashion. Before, the Jews tried to follow God’s will only by reading the commandments and then trying to obey them. But now, believers serve God’s will by reading the commandments and then knowing that they do not need to attempt to get out there and obey them (the law was our overseer to bring us to faith in Christ)--both because it is impossible for us to obey them, and because Christ already did, and He wants to credit His righteousness and His nature to us so that we don’t have to sweat it. So by faith we become obedient to the laws of God.

“So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” rom 7:4-6

When have you ever heard a Christian ask another Christian “So; tell me-- how has the law kept you from bearing fruit for God?” (The law in itself is not evil but rather good, but since sin dallies behind law we cannot use it.)

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” 1 cor 15:56

We do not move into victory so often because our eyes are upon the good standard, and therefore sin takes advantage of our desires. Our consciences are troubled! (“some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘you must... keep the law’” Acts 15:24) The law causes the focus to shift! From God, to ourselves! That’s sin evil accomplishment. And that is why His power is diminished and why our pride and lust increases. The way for them to put down sin is to recognize that Christ has made them obedient to the law by promise, by faith, and they need to claim that obedience in the Spirit.


Still with a desperate desire for input on this!

How do we walk in fellowship without law?

By faith! Faith is sufficient.

Can we have full fellowship with the Lord independent of any unobeyed command out of scripture?

Yes! Abraham was called righteous independent (and beforehand) of his obedience to (outer-man) circumcision, even though he was obedient in the flesh, later.

"Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!" rom 4:10

Here is a very important passage which describes how to consider righteousness in the eyes of God:

“Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.” rom 2:25-29

Verse 26 says that though a man is not obedient to any one law, because he has faith (i.e., he "keeps the law"), he is considered, he is seen through a lens as if he actually had been obedient to the law. How can this be so?

If we obey the greatest commandment, then there is nothing left in the law as undone. “...for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” rom 13:8 What is the greatest commandment? To love God in perfection and to love men in perfection. No man has loved God and men by this standard, except One man. Jesus obeyed the greatest commandment to perfection. When He did this He not only gained the credit for it for Himself but also credited us with that same accomplishment. So because of the transfer of credit at our salvation, we are seen unmovingly as obedient in perfection to every single commandment. We are also made over into that real-life image of perfection (works) because of salvation.

Not only does the greatest commandment illustrate that it was more than just the laws of sacrifice that were satisfied by Jesus, but also the fact that the ‘law of Moses’ which is a usual name for the old covenant, includes not just the sacrifical laws but also the ten commandments. Jesus fulfilled all obligation to satisfy all law.

"Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness.' The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness..." rom 4:20-24

Abraham's faith enacted righteousness. Completion of obedience in the work later on was not part of the enactment. Now, James talks about "works-righteousness." He seems to say to many ears that "there is a justification that comes by works." But, I still don't think I buy this. I think that the same connectedness that made Abraham seen as obedient as if by law, but really only and just by faith, is just as connected thinking reversely: His faith is made complete in what he did.

"A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly...." rom 2:28-29

The outward only, means nothing. Abraham's example of obedience when he was said to be "making his faith complete," was not absent of faith. The faith was always present in the completion of the works of righteousness, in his obedience to God. So: if faith was there, and works were there, which one really brings justification? The faith brings the credit, in the work. The work itself does not, but, the faith is made full, complete, when it is built-up and taken outwardly through not only what is inward but into everything we do outwardly. Faith is qualitative, and quantitative. Faith is always the conduit of righteousness. Works, themselves, aren't adding anything toward being righteous... they aren't adding anything, but they represent the faith-righteousness that is beneath them.

Verse 25 sums up, in my thinking, the way to know if what I do means anything to God:

"For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. " rom 2:25

See how faith is indomitable, here, in determining standing before God? So, yes, a man is blameless before God when he has faith and yet is still giving the appearance, in the reality of any matter, as being a sinner. I love how clearly He portrays grace in Jesus Christ even in the OT:

“The poor will see and be glad--you who seek God, may your hearts live! The Lord hears the needy and does not despise His captive people.” ps 69:32-33

“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; he hears their cries and saves them.” Ps 145:18-19

There is only one law which determines our sanctificational state of being in fellowship with God: the law of faith. The Law of Spirit and Life Rom 8:2. The Law of Christ gal 6:2. Prospering with Christ and His deposited Life, is measured by how much we receive as believable the truth of Christ crucified, for when we love we are in harmony with God and dispensing our responsiibility to make disciples of all men and also obeying the commands we carry consciousness of.

When He comes again we will not be judged another time for sins; no, we will be judged according to the depth of our faith (because God sees the true value of a work), not sins of the outer man (the ten commandments). john 16:8-9

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.” james 2:12

What does the law do for us?

Beginning with point #3 on my list found here:

3) In Galatians, Paul wrote to help those becoming deceived. They were deceived about sanctification, equally as they were about salvation.

You can see in the passage below, Paul explicitly lists both salvation ("the Spirit") and sanctification ("attaining your goal" and "miracles") as what they are deceived about:

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?” gal 3:1-5

Reading Galatians convinces me that it is Paul's critical teaching that a Christian be told that they are not required or obligated, for obeying any of God’s laws (once a Christian). And my reasoning is because of the purpose of the law.

What does law do for us?

The law, any law, produces slavery in us to the sinful nature, as opposed to slavery to the Holy Spirit. Sin always takes advantage in us Christians when a commandment is present. “But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” rom 7:8-10

When commandments are preached, bondage to sin develops:

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ... As it is, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ... So I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ... So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” rom 7:14, 17-18, 21-23, 25

How in the world can a Christian obey the following command: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” rom 6:11-12 ....

...than by counting themselves dead to all law?

“For apart from law, sin is dead.” rom 7:8

“the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” rom 8:7

“for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account where there is no law.” rom 5:13

“And where there is no law there is no transgression.” rom 4:15

Here is Paul’s direct answer for how to be free from the slavery of sin:

“For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” rom 6:14

We find the power to act dead to sinful desires when we are released from the stewardship of a commandment.

Assess the logic for me, please, please?

A New Series: Law vs. Grace

I'm trying to think about why the people of free grace stand up for the gospel. Why must they defend the gospel of faith alone in Christ alone? At this point they know the alternative is a departure, so that is good. They have knowledge because they have arrived at the right answer.

In my case, I was told that I had to be baptized in water, in order to be saved. Faith + baptism = salvation. I studied baptism, first. I figured out that it wasn't needed. But the scriptures started stressing in my reading, the importance of being saved by a faith that is alone, not including works. That was even better than protecting my salvation from the claim that baptism was necessary -- it meant I could protect it from any claim that came in the form of a commandment.

Now, I haven't shared all of this, with anyone, before. At least, I have with two people, but neither of them understood or accepted it. Actually, I shared it a bit at bible.org, but everyone ignored me. Then I took a free grace class, and I heard that we believe in the same manner: faith + nothing = salvation. Now, it is my chance to receive input from those who might understand me, for the first time.

Keep in mind as you are reading that I described a "free grace" salvation and sanctification, happening in super-Calvinistic ways. Talk about a mess, eh?? I have spent these few months trying to detox in the descriptions, believing now in free will. If I don't completely arrive, please, help me.

I have been told, that it is difficult to understand me. You will notice that I am... probably... a hermeneutical mess, but, if you take them as they are, I hope you will easily see that I use these passages in ways firmly gripped in their biblical context.

I was not trained by the Christian culture, not by commentaries or schooling, so I say things differently, I've been told, than what is usual.

In conclusion, because it is difficult for me to be understood, I am going to go out of order. I'm going to give you the conclusions, first, so that you understand why I am quoting these passages and what I am getting out of them, the point that I have come away with that I hope anyone else might clearly see, too. So, please don't assume that I started with an opinion or agenda, first, and then read that opinion into scripture next, because even though that is the order in this email, that is not what I have done.

Some basic points that are the conclusion of reading upon the topic of law vs. grace:

1) In order to not sin we must be free from obligation to obey God.

2) Obligation produces a superficial obedience, which, when that obligation is removed, proves lawlessness.

3) In Galatians, Paul wrote to help those becoming deceived. They were deceived about sanctification, equally as they were about salvation.

4) The law in itself is not evil but rather good, but since sin dallies behind law we cannot use it.


These, I think, are pretty bold or uncommon conclusions. But I hope you will see as I have come to see, that they are the point of Paul's teachings on law and grace. I started studying this topic in 2002. In 2005, I wrote essentially what you are reading now and what is to come. I made a few adjustments in language for the sake of free will, but the boundaries for God's grace are the same in my mind now as they were back then.

Thanks for putting up with me.