I am convinced that what keeps people in bondage is pride. Not arrogant pride. False pride. It goes something like this. “I’m not worthy. I’m worthless. I’m not valuable. I’m useless. I keep screwing up. I don’t deserve it.” This is false humility which is the worst form of pride.
What happens in instances like this is that people fail to see the truth, and instead embrace what I will call untruth. This happens due to wrong believing brought on by false teaching. Religion and legalism lead them to the point they continue to miss the absolute promises and truths in scripture. First, because they listen and casually believe what they hear from supposedly learned men of God. Secondly, because they don’t test those spirits to see if they be from God. Thirdly, because they don’t study scripture, but instead simply read it.
All scripture is written for us, but not all scripture is written to us. That statement is more profound than you might imagine. It tags up with rightly dividing the word of truth.
Romans 15:4 in the New Living Testament reads as follows: “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.”
Right there we see that scripture is there to benefit us in our understanding of truth. For instance, let’s take forgiveness. There’s truth and untruth. Said a better way, there’s truth and greater truth.
What do I mean by that? Well, in the Old Testament it says if you touch a leper, you become unclean. However, we see in the New Testament when you touch a leper, the leper becomes clean. It’s a greater truth and a better truth.
In the Old Testament if you touch a casket, you were cursed. In the New Testament when Jesus touched the casket, He turned the funeral into a parade for a party. It brought life.
The Old Testament law brought death and destruction. The New Testament grace brings life and rejoicing. It’s a deeper, better truth. The New Covenant is a covenant of the much more.
The reason Jesus could not attend a funeral is because every time He did, people came to life (Luke 7:11-15). If He visited a grave site, the dead would come to life (John 11:43,44)
Romans 1:16 makes the statement that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. We read that but don’t understand it. Someone that’s preaching or teaching quotes or reads that scripture and we jump and yell amen, but miss it completely.
The gospel is the gospel of grace (Galatians 1:6). Paul makes his point that it is the gospel of grace. It’s the grace of Christ. So, if that’s truth, and it is, then when Jesus says something why do so many not receive it?
For instance, in John 17:18 Jesus says to the Father “Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world”. Then in Matthew 28:18 Jesus says “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth”.
Now those are grace statements made by the grace of Christ which is the gospel. So, why don’t we believe it? Jesus made both of those statements, so if you just take them and use common sense step logic here’s what you get. Jesus said He is sending us into the world the same way He was sent into the world by the Father. The way He was sent into the world was with “all authority in heaven and on earth”. Therefore, I have all authority in heaven and on earth.
Look at John 17:18 and Matthew 28:18 closely. That word authority is the greek word exousia. It means – privilege, that is, force, capacity, competency, freedom, superhuman, delegated influence: jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
The word power is the same greek word exousia. So it would not be improper to say that we have been given all power and authority in heaven and on earth. This is true anywhere you see this in the New Testament. For instance Luke 9:1; Luke 4:36; Mark 11:28 etc.
Here’s another one we read and don’t believe. John 17:23. “I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me”. I dare you to tell a religious person that God loves you as much as He love Jesus. Then watch their reaction.
When they challenge you and call you arrogant, tell them it would be arrogance if you said it, but you didn’t say it. JESUS DID. Show them the scripture. There’s no guarantee it will change their attitude about it, because that means they’ll have to give up their position of false humility, the worst form of pride.
Now here’s another truth. So many people are in bondage to trying to perform or keep the law, thinking it will win them higher status with God. That’s just not scriptural. You can’t show me that “works mentality” in scripture. Look at this set of scriptures right here. It couldn’t be clearer. Romans 4:13-15.
13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
Whoa! Wait a minute. Did that just say “clearly”? Yes it did. That means there is no mistaking the truth that the promise is not based on obedience to the law, but on a right relationship with God. Jesus did not have power because He was the Son of God. He had power because He was a man in right relationship with God.
14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.
In case you are too thick skulled to understand what was just said in verse 13, let me make it abundantly clear. If you think it’s all about your performance to keep the law, or live up to the rules, or follow a set of standards, then basically you’re wasting your time. There’s no promise to keep, because that doesn’t take faith, it takes dogged persistence and work. Faith is resting in what has already been accomplished and receiving the promises. Oh, by the way…..that’s the ridiculous, radical, inexhaustible grace of God.
15 For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)
We'll stop here for now, but this is by no means the end of this topic. I'll pick up in part 2 restating verse 15. Grace and Peace.
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