I mentioned in part 1 we would pick this teaching back up with verse 15 of Romans 4. So here we go.
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!)
Well, I guess since you think you have to live up to the law, the Old Covenant, you will always walk in the fear of punishment if you fail to keep it. So I guess I’ll just have to remove the law so you don’t have anything to live up to.
Hebrews 8:12,13 says “12 And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” 13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
The first covenant which included the law is obsolete. Why would you want to continue to try and live up to it? You’ve heard me say it before, but it bears repeating. As long as you believe that obedience to the law is the method for winning acceptance from God, you will continue to have a problem with sin.
Galatians 4:7 says “Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir”. That’s a powerful truth, but so many Christians are still acting like orphans. God has MADE (past tense) you his heir.
Quit walking around like you have no family ties. You are of the household of God. Ephesians 2:19 says “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family”. Come on. How much clearer does it have to be?
Okay, let’s try another great truth and destroy some more false beliefs. In John 17:22 it says, Jesus speaking, “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one”. Okay. That’s a powerful truth statement, but I want to know what glory He gave us, so I go to John 17:5. It says “Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began”.
So here I go using my step logic once again. If Jesus said He gave us the glory God gave Him, and He said it was the glory they shared before the world began. Then I can say I have the same glory Jesus had with the Father before the world began. OOOHHH that will ruffle some religious feathers. How dare you!!! How? Easy. I just receive what Jesus said about me.
Here is one that just gets me. John 14:12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father”.
Jesus speaking says “I tell you the truth…” So we have the Truth saying He’s telling us the truth. We probably ought to listen and receive what He’s saying. The only problem with this one is people keep talking about doing even greater things, but they haven’t yet done what He did.
So if I take this verse as truth, then we should be healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and casting out demons, because Jesus did. Come on.
So put all this together. When I walk around declaring what Jesus, the gospel of grace says I am, it’s not arrogance….it’s Truth. The only ones who will view it as arrogance are those who are weak in faith.
Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ. I wish people were truly convinced of that. We read it, we shout it we say amen to it, we may even believe it, but we’re not convinced it’s for us.
See….it’s the “ya buts”. Ya but I’m not worthy. I’m worthless. I’m not valuable. I’m useless. I keep screwing up. I don’t deserve it. Have you heard this before? Sure you have. Right here at the beginning of this teaching.
Guess what? That’s not what Jesus said. We just went through it all. Romans 8:37 reads “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us”. I wish people were truly convinced of that. Again, We read it, we shout it, we say amen, we may even believe it, but we’re not convinced it’s for us.
Many don’t really know what rom 8:37 means. It means Jesus runs the 26 mile marathon taking first place, and we get the reward. He goes in the ring for 15 rounds of brutal boxing. Wins the match and we get the Championship belt and $20 million purse.
Now we’re the champ, the victor. It doesn’t take long for challengers to show up. Religion, legalism, man made rules of the church, and traditions of men all trying to strip us of our victory.
Here’s where it changes. We don’t even need to get back in the ring. Jesus reminds the enemy of what He did at the cross. Colossians 2:15 reads “In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross”. He made a show of them openly in triumph. He paraded them down main street. In chains were shame, depression, unworthiness, sickness and disease, wrath and punishment. At the very end was death.
Leading the procession is Jesus. Right along side of him are you and me and He is holding our hands in the air as the victors. If we’ll just receive this it will free us up to walk in all the fullness and grace of God. Instead, the majority of the church goes back into the ring and hands the championship belt back to the enemy. Listening to his lies dwelling on them and believing them so as to make them appear true when they never can be.
By walking in our victory, we’ll be so set free in our believing that we’ll expect to receive what the word released has declared. In other words, we don’t release a prophetic word hoping to believe it. We release a prophetic word expecting to receive it. It’s a proclamation of the revelation of reality, not a command or an assignment.
Here is an example. Again it shows truth verses untruth. Be ye holy as I am holy. That’s in 1 Peter 1:16. It is not a command or an assignment to work on, it is a proclamation or declaration of who you already are.
Be holy. The Greek word is ginomai or ghin-om-ahee. That means “to become” or “brought to pass”. Just be it because I’ve declared you are.
Finally, none of this is possible without the Holy Spirit. The reason we’re not seeing great manifestations of healing, deliverance, and breakthroughs in the church today, like they did in the days of the apostles, is because we put more faith in the bible they didn’t have than we do in the Holy Spirit they did have.
We believe the bible’s the word of God, we just don’t believe the God in the word. We just don’t believe Jesus and what he said. We just don’t believe truth and greater truth. We just don’t trust that the Holy Spirit knows what he’s doing.
Jesus said in John 8:32 “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free”. Jesus said “you will know”. That means the truth is going to be made known to you. Once it is, it will MAKE you free. There will be no choice. All you have to do is rest in the process and let Jesus do the work. So once again, in accordance with John 8:32, if it’s the knowledge of the truth that makes you free, then it’s error that binds you.
This teaching has presented truth to you and destroyed many of the untruths that religion would try to get you to entertain. As for me, let me put it in the words Paul wrote in Romans 1:16. I am not ashamed of the gospel of the grace of Christ Jesus, because it is the power of God unto salvation for all those who believe. Look closely and you’ll see me at the front of the parade with my hand lifted, because I am more than a conqueror according to the Holy Spirit anointed scriptures. Time to join the procession. Grace and Peace.
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