In Mark 3:4 Jesus asks if it is lawful to do good or to do evil. He didn’t ask if it is lawful to do right or wrong. Why? Because He knew they were religious law keepers and legalists. He knew they didn’t understand the difference between right and wrong verses good and evil.
That is what is exhausting. Trying to figure out what is right and then trying to do right. God’s definition of righteousness has nothing to do with what’s right. It is not about activity, it’s about relationship. It’s about right standing, not right actions. I get weary with people trying to reduce righteousness to acting right or keeping rules. That’s legalism and religion.
Being religious and trying to determine right from wrong only makes you judgmental and critical of those who do what’s wrong, even when you don’t know what wrong is.
The reason so many people leave the church, or never start a relationship with a church and its body, is because they are met at the door by the elder brother rather than by the father.
Oh, you’ve done wrong, you made a mistake. We are going to point that out to you and kick you while you’re down. That’s not how God is. The father is looking and longing to bless you, regardless of you’re faults.
God is constantly making statements of declaration and promises. He is the yeah and amen God. When God makes a statement of blessing, He’s not commanding you He’s giving you a promise.
He told Adam be fruitful and multiply. He wasn’t commanding Adam. He was promising Adam fruitfulness.
Be holy as I am holy. It’s not a commandment to be holy. It’s a declaration that you are holy.
Go and sin no more. She could not do that on her own. It was not a commandment, it was an impartation of power.
Rise up and walk. It’s giving you power to do what you are incapable of doing on your own.
Understanding through revelation, the powerful message of God’s great grace toward you will set you free from the tyranny of other people and from the tyranny of yourselves.
When “they” try to burden you with a set of rules that God does not require of you, you’ll be able to simply disregard the error because you’re made free by the truth you know. John 8:32 says “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.
It’s the truth you know that makes you free. So, “if the knowledge of the truth makes you free, then it’s error that binds you”.
There are many people willing to try and put you in bondage to rules they believe need to be kept. They will base their relationship with you on how well you keep the rules they’ve set.
As long as you need other people to have a good impression of you and understand you, you will be owned by anyone willing to lie to you or about you. Excessive need for support from others is proof of the bankruptcy of your beliefs of the inner man.
Many Christians cannot get free from their perverted notions of God. They get a lot of help from others who would try and establish themselves as bearers of God’s rules and edicts, albeit totally false and without scriptural support. This poisons people’s hearts and destroys their inward freedom. It causes them to work at doing what is right without enthusiasm or joy.
We please God most not when we try to do what is right by adhering to a set of man-made rules. Or when we try to perform for God. We please God most when we throw ourselves into His arms with all our imperfections and failures.
Progress in the Christian life is not based on how well you keep the rules, do what “they” say is right and avoid what “they” say is wrong. It is exactly equal to the growing knowledge we gain of God in personal experience and relationship with Him.
True moral wisdom must always be an echo of God’s voice. It is what gives us the power, authority, and ability to discern Good and Evil. Grace and Peace.
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