Spirit versus Flesh

Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

You know when I look back on my life and I remember. I think of many things that I did in my youth and I have great remorse for not living my life as God would have had me live it. If only I had lived those times in the Spirit and not the Flesh.

I don’t know how you view the flesh but when I speak of the flesh I mean the human body that my soul indwells. The body makes it’s demands felt. It wants to be feed. It wants to be entertained. It wants to reproduce and it doesn’t care how it achieves these purposes. It hates, it lusts and it would murder just to be satiated. The body or the flesh is the antithesis of the Spirit in every way.

The sad thing is that even today I live most of my life in the flesh. There are times when I live in the Spirit but they are few and far between. If only the Lord could bring the surrender of the flesh to be ruled over by Him every moment of the day. Imagine how much better things would be if that were the case for each of us who are redeemed in Christ Jesus.

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.

You know, it’s only in more recent times that I have come to be closer to the Lord and seen how often He answers my prayers specifically. This leads me to have confidence that God is changing my heart and that I am closer to Him and have the power of the Spirit within me.

I’m not always in the Spirit but much more often than in my earlier life. I seek to be closer to the Lord more than I did. May be He has helped me to see how this is possible through Him (Romans 8:28). I’m far from perfect but I can see how it is possible to be made a new creation. The old self buried in baptism in the death of Christ Jesus and raised to the newness of life in His resurrection.

When I was younger the emphasis in much of the biblical teaching was focused on the need to be holy. I found that to be an unassailable challenge that led to personal defeat in my Christian life. No matter how I tried I failed to be holy and surrender to Christ was far away.

In fact, it seemed that the more I tried to be better the more easily the enemy made me pious and judgmental to those around me. I became angry and intolerant and hurt those close to me most of all. It seemed as the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:15 "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." KJV. So that became my daily life and my Christian life stalled. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not claiming to be now living in sinless perfection. Far from it but I sense that God is at work in my heart. Bruce in his end will be better than at the start. Of that I am assured in Christ Jesus.

Surprisingly, it is through the input of my reformed Christian friends that I began to make progress again in my spiritual life. I came to see that it is not my ability to make myself holy that is at issue. It is actually Christ in me and the work of the Holy Spirit to change me into a new creation, born of water and the Spirit. As a poor lowly sinner I have nothing to commend me before God and actually His work in me is to present me as the person He has always intended me to be.

2 Peter 1:4 By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

So I’m by no means a perfect creature of the Living God yet. I am however, on that path and as I find that God is changing me. I can see in the distance the fruit of the Spirit beginning manifest in my life. I lay hold on that while expressing thanks to God. I seek to feel the joy of the Spirit in my life and to express joy and peace that comes from being in the presence of the Lord.

The flesh still arises and with that comes defeat at times. There are times when God enables me get back up and to apologise to those I have caused pain including myself. However, I know that God is revealing His promises in my heart and expanding His divine nature in me while allowing me more freedom from sinful desires. I’m human though.

So, for me the victory is found in understanding the God is working in my life to make the a new creature. I can’t change myself. It comes from understanding that the work is not my own other than I have a will which God may use to guide me away from sin as He develops me into the person He wants me to be. I am His and He is mine forever. I need fear nothing because I am a child of God in Jesus Christ and as Romans 8:28 says “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Finally it comes down to understanding that the body or the flesh seeks to take care of itself. It is wholly carnal and continuously in conflict with the edicts of God and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. We are caught in this conflict until the day we die but throughout this process God is changing and perfecting us through the indwelling Spirit of God. In the end as a preacher once said “The man at the end of the journey will be a different man from the one who began the journey.”

Remember, God will save us through His Son Jesus Christ and sanctify us through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are His chosen nation, His royal priesthood, and a people for His own possession. A people belonging to God the eternal Bride of Christ. The Church.

 

Remember Jonah

As I watch the response of Christianity in New Zealand to the changes unfurled by the Covid Agenda and the New World Order. I can’t help but be reminded of the prophet Jonah. I don’t know if you know the story but in brief it goes like this. God spoke to Jonah and instructed him to make his way to the city of Nineveh and to warn them of the impending destruction of the city by God.

Jonah did not want to do what God had instructed him and ran from God. He got on a boat and God brought a storm. He ended up in the sea in the midst of the storm and God scooped him up with a great fish. The fish vomited him up on the beach and he reluctantly went to Nineveh and preached about their impending destruction.

The King of Nineveh repented and instructed the whole city to repent including the livestock. No one was to work but all were to cover themselves and their livestock in sackcloth and repent. God forgave them and spared them.

Jonah was beside himself with anger and disappointment over God showing mercy to the inhabitants of Nineveh. He went of into the desert to have a sulk and to whinge about Yahweh being a benevolent and merciful God. This being the reason he didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place because he knew God would forgive them.

So while he sat under the noon day sun dehydrating in the desert. The Lord caused a plant to grow and give him shelter. Jonah loved the plant and then God sent grubs to chew on the plant and it withered and died. Much to Jonah’s consternation of course. Then God discussed Jonah’s compassion for the plant and compared it to his compassion for the people and animals of Nineveh.

Now how does this apply to the Christians in New Zealand in 2022. Well Jonah was a believer in Yahweh as are Christians today. He was given a commission to share the gospel of repentance in his time, as are we. He had a problem with the target audience for that gospel, in this case Nineveh, as do we. He grumbled and complained about what God was asking him to do, as do we. When God gave him the plant Jonah loved the plant but when God took the plant away he was really disappointed with God.

When Christians were a part of the dominant culture in New Zealand life was good. Just like the plants that shaded Jonah but just as Jonah was angry about the loss of the shady plant so Christians in New Zealand are angry that they are on the outside now and aren’t the dominant culture anymore.

So what can we take from this? Well one thing would be that Yahweh is in control. It may not seem so but He is. As Christians we are a part of a royal priesthood in Christ Jesus. We have a job to do just as Jonah did. We may not understand what God demands of us at times or why he allows changes which seem to be to our detriment and to the Church as a whole. Changes which could even be dangerous to us? However, the fact is that He does allow those changes and we can take consolation that they are a part of His plan.

So we can stop complaining about trampled rights and so forth while realising that even Old Testament saints endured the same types of dilemma and persecution that we do and as Jonah did. We may not realise what God’s plans are but we can rest assured that we are his soldiers in the battle for the hearts and minds of the lost. We can also bank his promises and know that he has plans for our well being and hope for a future (Jeremiah 29:11), and that no hand raised against His people will succeed (Isaiah 54:17). Just like Jonah we are the servants and prophets of the Lord and we have a job to do. We are also in the world but not of it. We are to have the mindset of the Kingdom of God not of the Prince of this World.

Faith in the Face of Facts

 

The bible says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). In this day of scientific fact Christians are being increasingly intimidated to believe only that which can be seen. That which can be proven. They are challenged to abandon their faith because of the supposed evidence that the world is not as they see it through the lens of the Bible.

Yet in their hearts they know that this is not the truth. They hear the yet small voice of the Holy Spirit and they know what they are being indoctrinated with by the leaders of this world does not reconcile with the Word of God.

The Covid Pandemic is the paramount example of what the Mystery of Iniquity is attempting to achieve in regard to causing Christians to abandon their faith in the face of fear and manipulation. This is dangerous for Christians because they are forced to try to identify the point at which they should take a stand for what they believe.

Questions like “Do I take the vaccine now because it is not the mark of the beast?” “Will God protect me if I take the vaccine or not?” “Am I being a traitor to Christ if I take the vaccine?” “Is the vaccine a vaccination or a gene therapy and a poison.” “Can I believe the promises God makes in the Bible?” All of these issues and many more attack the faith of the believer. The enemy is attempting to pull them off the path, that narrow way which our Lord Jesus spoke of in the gospels.

However, it is said that every cloud has a silver lining and the silver lining in this case is that the attack on the Church in the West is ramping up slowly. We have time to acclimate to the new order of things. To consider the issues and what our responses should be. To take up the Full Armor of God and consider our Faith and grow into it as we prepare for the enemy before us and battle that is at hand.

As we consider these things let us dwell on some scriptures that might help us to armor ourselves in the face of this onslaught against our faith. God does not leave us bereft in the face of the oppressor. Rather he faces them with us and gives us assurances in the scriptures of His methods and promises to His servants.

A Few of God’s Promises and Methods of Protecting the Mind of the Believer.

Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” NKJV

Keep your focus on God and His Word and He will keep you in perfect peace.

Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord. NASB

Isaiah 33:15 “...He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil.” NASB

As they used to say “Hear no evil, see no evil.” Isaiah 33:16 goes on to speak about the person who does this and how their refuge will be the Rock.

Mark 16:18 “they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” NASB

Ephesians 6-17 “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Gods Love for the Lost...

 

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 8:38 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

 

Romans 8:37-39 37 "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

In the world we struggle to comprehend what Yahweh (God), is truly about. In a word righteousness. The most valuable thing to God is the heart of a righteous (man), person. The most heinous thing is the sin of the wicked. Understand this and you are on the road to understanding God.

 

Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God while Romans 3:10 says that there is none righteous not even one. We are all sinners.

 

Yet Romans 5:8 states the Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. He died for the unrighteous. Everyone of us. John 3:16 tells us the God so loved us that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but will inherit eternal life.

 

Christ died for all but not all will avail themselves of His saving grace. The redemptive work of the Cross. Not everyone will believe on Jesus Christ so not all will be saved. In this regard you have a decision to make. Will you believe that Jesus bore your sins on the Cross.

 

Know this God loves you in that He died for you when you were still sinners. No one can separate you from his love if you believe on Christ Jesus. If you believe on the only begotten Son of God you are cherished and protected in the love of God. The only question that remains is will you believe on Jesus Christ.

The Truth and what you decide to do about it...

 Romans 3:10 "There is none righteous not even one."

 

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God."

 

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord."

 

 What you believe impacts on the way you live your life. What it comes down to is what is the truth. If you believe in the Creator then you know that sin is the most important thing in your life. That and what you decide to do about it. 

 

If you do nothing then you will live out this life as you see fit. But when God resurrects you to judgement you face the second death. Death for eternity. 

 

If you understand the scriptures above then you will know that the Creator (Yahweh), so loved you that He gave His only Son (Jesus Christ), for you that you should not perish but have eternal life. Gods free gift to you is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Spiritual Pride (Couples Edition) – Fun for all of the Family

It’s interesting that of all of the attributes in human nature that can damage a spouse and those we love. Spiritual Pride is the most damaging of all in a Christian Marriage. It can destroy the trust of a spouse in seconds. It can destroy a relationship between a husband and wife, a dad and a daughter, sons and a father. There is nothing else in existence that is as singularly destructive to the wielder and to those around them.

As with all of my opinion pieces this one is strictly based on my opinions and experiences. Now looking back over my experience with Spiritual Pride I remember once in our early married life my spouse wanted for us to pray together. I was too proud at the time of my knowledge of the faith to simply allow her close to me. So being quite off hand with her I declined to pray. I think I may have acceded to her wishes a number of times but I made it plain that I was above this petty nonsense.

As you can imagine she was hurt that I would even behave in this way. Where was the nice guy she married. Where was the love and why was I afraid to let her get close to me? At the time I thought little of it but after years of witnessing the consequences of pride that started way back then. I can tell you that you tolerate your personal spiritual pride at your peril.

To understand this we need to understand the emotional differences between men and women. When it comes to spiritual pride in a man it usually arises at the end of a sequence of other events. First a man gets anxious over something. It could be a work event or the behaviour of his spouse or a child. Then that anxiety results in frustration and the frustration in anger. The anger is stored or repressed and then you have a man with a bomb in his heart.

If he is sensible he will find someone to talk about it with and get help to defuse the bomb. That someone could be the love of his life who loves him deeply and has born his children or it could be a wise friend or, it could be in prayer with a wise God.

If he’s not sensible then he’ll continue to hang on to the anger and one day either his wife or a child will do something that he doesn’t approve of and they become the target for that unstable rage that he has stored in his heart. If he is a Christian then he will most probably attach that rage to a perceived violation of instructions for women and children in the bible.

He won’t be so bothered about the fact that he is instructed to love his wife as he loves himself. He won’t be to worried that the bible says not to provoke your children less they become discouraged. So our genius has a fit of temper and in the most condescending of ways attacks the focus of his spiritual rebuke. Telling them how they don’t measure up to his or God’s standards. The results to the faith of the spouse or child can be catastrophic. It can even be faith ending. The simple violation of their trust is enough to quench the faith of many a believer.

A married woman carries with her a wonderful gift that God has given her which she will give to the man she loves with all of her heart. When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden one of the consequences was that God said to Eve “Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.” This may sound like a punishment but it is something that I have witnessed many times. Women in love have a way that they look at their husbands. They are one hundred percent in love and devoted to that man. I tell you it is a gift of God given by a woman to her man.

Spiritual Pride can destroy that gift. If you attack your beloved over bible doctrine and the position of a woman in the Church and accuse her (throw her under the bus), of not being submissive to you. You run the risk of losing her love. Spiritual Pride is like hydrochloric acid spilt on steel. It will burn it’s way through a relationship like a hot knife through butter.

Spiritual Pride used against a seemingly disobedient daughter will drive them away from the family and into the arms of a waiting boy friend. Who usually has only one interest in your daughter and it is not about her eternal security. It can severely weaken the faith of a son if you attack your spouse from a perspective of spiritual pride or for that matter drive their sister or brother away from home on that basis.

My advice to anyone is to take care when taking the pompous and pious high road of Spiritual Pride. Advice to anyone considering a judgemental, legalistic attack against a family member or a brother or, sister in the faith. Pride tends to tap into the fruit of flesh which is hatred, loathing, despising, anger, viciousness, selfishness and condemnation. The result is always same. The destruction of relationships and in the end being selfish and alone.

It comes back to understanding what Peter and Paul were saying to women in the Church and to their husbands. Ephesians 5:22-24 “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”

1 Peter 3:1 “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives..”

Ephesians 5:25-29 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

1 Peter 3:7 “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honour to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”

For me it always comes back to what the apostle John had to say in 1 John 4:7-11 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Our Lord and Saviour put it like this. Mark 12:28-31 “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Notice Paul’s instruction to husbands “Husband love your wives as you love yourself.”

When next your feeling a little Spiritually Proud. Remember “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another. Compliance comes from God and judgement belongs to God. Our job is to spread the gospel and to share the love. Helping God win souls to Jesus. One soul at a time.

The Next Reformation - Journey

When I penned the name of the Facebook page ‘The Next Reformation.’ I have to say I didn’t know very much about the “Reformation” or for that matter ‘The Reformers’ I had never heard about a theologian called Jacobus Arminius. I knew even less of his struggle against the Calvinists over doctrines like the Depravity of mankind; the Election of the saints, the breadth of Atonement; the irresistibility of Grace; whether the saints will Persevere and of course the doctrine of Predestination in its totality.

I also had no idea about the beliefs of John and Charles Wesley and a theology called Wesleyan Armenianism and the impact that it had on the Church in the Western World over the last two centuries. Bringing the Church from a stance on Salvation that all Christians are predestined and without choice to accept or reject Christ’s work on the Cross to another perspective. One that states the believer has choice to believe on Christ’s work of atonement on their behalf and repentance is also based on choice as is the Christians journey toward sanctification.

My personal view of the Calvinist and Armenian perspectives on Salvation, Justification and Sanctification is that both perspectives are true. It seems to me, and I am prepared to accept correction on this or any issue, that there are themes in scripture. In this case there is the theme of Predestination which clearly shows that the believer is predestined, that the Father brings us to His Son, Christ Jesus and we as Christians are chosen.

There is also the theme that Salvation is for all. John 3:16 “For God so loved the World that he gave His only begotten Son that who so ever believes on him shall not perish but inherit eternal life.” So, you could say that Grace is made available to all through the Gospel. Now we can say, and many do, that these two themes are incompatible but my answer is why should that be? Jesus said that all things are possible with God. Yes we may not be able to understand what God can do but that doesn’t mean that He cannot do it.

I know that the truth is paramount to Christians and that many reading what I have just said would brand me a liberal and read no further. Fair enough. If you do continue to read on though. I would say that there are benefits to be derived from either perspective. The Calvinist view is valuable because it is a persistent view of the Christian life. The believers exposed to this lens tend to be strongly grounded folk who believe that they can do nothing aside from the work of God in their lives. A good place to start your walk with God. I would say and a proven path in that these humble folk have persisted for the last four plus centuries and as with all of the bible believing, faith alone reformed Churches they are still going strong. While many other denominations have faded into the oblivion of history.

The greatest thing about the Armenian perspective is it’s focus on the love of God. That God so loved you that he gave His only Son Jesus Christ that in believing on Him you shall not perish but will inherit eternal life. The belief that the gospel is for all. That in Grace all are Predestined to Salvation but not all will avail themselves of that Salvation. It is a lighter yoke than Calvinism.

Compared to the constraints of the Reformed Theology. The Wesleyan Armenian theology is about Matthew chapter 28 verses 19 & 20. The Great Commission to take the gospel to the World baptising all who will in the name of Jesus Christ. This resulted in a golden age of Christianity in the nineteenth century known as the Great Awakening. There were many great leaders (Moody, Finney, Torrey), in that era and Christianity flourished in the West.

However, as with so many Church movements false teachings can find a home and Methodism is no different in that regard. Initially a preoccupation with the personal holiness of the believer became a stumbling block for many leading to a works based gospel and individual defeat. Over time the Gifts Movement began to make its home in Wesleyan Protestantism and corresponding error came into the Church through a shift away from Sola Scriptura.

Over time the movement began to wane and the Mainline Church branches fell into liberalism leaving the Gifts Movement to consolidate the remaining adherents into world styled mega churches and abundant smaller Christian fellowships. Today the Church’s impact is being quenched by the growing wave of humanism and atheism and ultimately the return to paganism in this End Time.

So, there is no doubt that the Church needs to return to it’s roots. We need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a widespread revival both here in New Zealand Aotearoa and in countries across the Western World. I suppose the question arises “What will ‘The Next Reformation’ look like and when will it occur?” It seems that times are changing and much of the World is falling into a time of spiritual darkness. I continue to speculate that it won’t be until the people recognise what this ‘Rise of Paganism’ means to them personally that they will be open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ once more. So, I think the people will be going much further into that spiritual darkness before they begin to repent and turn back to God. The Next Reformation may well occur in the “Tribulation Time’ to come and it will look revolutionary as countless millions repent in the name of Jesus Christ in that era.