Only Covered? The Difference Between Faith and Unbelief!

     There is language that is often times used that unintentionally allows for unbelief to reign in our lives.  There are many ways of thinking that cause people to live on the brink of faith without actually having any (Hebrews 11:1).  There are two 'sayings' used in the church that need to be completely thrown away.  God wants us to have faith, conviction, that leads to freedom.

 1) "The blood of Jesus 'covers' our sin." 

 2) "God 'sees' us as righteous."

     These statements are used all of the time, and although they carry some truth they do not fully grasp the fullness of what Jesus paid for on the cross.  Jesus didn't only cover up our sin, he separated us from it as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).  He actually cleansed us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  I don't know about you, but when I wash something, I literally take away the dirt and the grime.  You can keep spraying cologne on something that is dirty, but it doesn't make it any more clean.  Jesus actually did a good enough job in cleaning you up, He literally took away the dirt/sin itself.  "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29)."  Not only that he also equipped you not to get dirty again! "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able (1 Cor. 10:13)." "I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin (1 John 2:1)." 

     The second statement is probably the one that most frustrates me.  God 'sees' us as righteous.  Why does God see us that way? Is it because He is blind? Or is Jesus just fooling God by standing in front of us so God can't see us? No of course not, God is not so foolish.  He sees us as righteous because we actually are righteous!  The requirement of the law has been fulfilled in us (Romans 8:4).  We have a righteousness that comes by faith not by works (Philippians 3:9).  That means I don't need to become righteous, I just accept the fact that Jesus already made me that way!  That is what faith is! 

    God has established us in a new reality, a new covenant that has nothing to do with our ability to perform.  I do not get righteous, I accept that Jesus made me that way on the cross 2000 yrs ago.  I do not battle sin, I consider myself dead to it (Romans 6:11, Colossians 3:4).  Why do I consider myself dead to sin? Because I actually am dead to sin; "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24)."  "For how can we who died to sin still live in it (Romans 6:2)."

    The problem with using language about our salvation that isn't complete or definitive, is that it still allows for unbelief.  If I believe I am a sinner and naturally inclined to sin, that is exactly what I will manifest.  If I believe I am the righteousness of God and a slave to righteousness I will manifest it.  I cannot be righteous on my own I can only accept that it has already happened.  The reality is that very few people actually believe this; still fighting the message of grace they cling to sinful theology and language to justify their own unbelief.  Yet even they have been made righteous!!  Living a holy life is only a reality when we believe in Jesus, the lack of holy living is directly proportionate to our faith in the Gospel!  Reality is reality whether we believe it or not. Jesus separated our relationship with the law by completely fulfilling it; "It is finished (John 19:30)."  We do not need to strive anymore, but effortlessly sink into the reality of the finished work of the cross. 

   God is stirring up in His church true and radical faith.  Faith where we actually agree with God and allow our minds to be renewed to match His own.  God is revealing the lies that we have believed and giving us the option to accept the truth.  "Know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32)." After all, God wants "All men to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4)."

"To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (1 Peter 1-4)."

No Condemnation. . . None (Part 3)

    God has forgiven you, he loves you, he does not condemn you. He wants you to accept His forgiveness and reinstate you as His child and friend so that you can be more than a conqueror. This takes humility, humility to give up completely on your own ability to attain.  You must simply accept that he has finished the work He set out to do on the cross. Humility comes from the Latin root Humus, which means grounding.  Humility is not feeling bad about yourself it is knowing where you come from.  If you agree with God that you are from Him, there is never any reason to feel poorly about yourself.  If you think you are a sinner unable to be forgiven then you have become an enemy in your mind against God.  The extreme of this is to blasphemy the spirit, which is the only 'unforgivable sin' (Matthew 12:31).  It really means to come to a place where there is no possibility of redemption for that individual because they have totally bought into the lie that they are condemned and cannot be forgiven.

    Where are you claiming to have your grounding? In Adam or Christ? There is no half-way, you cannot be both.  You are not a saint and a sinner, you side with one or the other and only one is true. "He who is not with Me is against me (Matthew 12:30)."  The reality for everyone is that they have been forgiven, to reject this and live in the old nature is to live a lie existence.  Did you know that God is not even disappointed in you? He can't be, because He never put any expectation on your ability to perform in the first place!  He knew from the beginning that we could only succeed from a place of dependence on Him and not a dependence on ourselves.

    Guilt, shame, and condemnation have no place in the Kingdom! In fact those feelings reveal that we still have confidence in ourselves!  How silly that is, since that is why we needed a savior in the first place! To struggle with sin means to struggle with 'works righteousness' ; which, ultimately, a struggle against grace itself. "For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3)." When we feel guilty it is because we failed, and for whatever reason we feel like we should have been able to do it! That is an anti-Gospel mentality, in fact even an Anti-Christ mentality.  Oh the lies of Satan that he has mixed among the Holy Brethren.  "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out Abba! Father (Romans 8:15)!" Or have you forgotten that Christ is always for you, he is never against you (Romans 8:31).  "For it is for freedom that Christ has set you free (Galatians 5:1)." 

   That means that even repentance can be a joyful, even fun thing! Because it is acknowledging that the very thing we did isn't us! Repentance literally means to go back to the top, to accept the mind set of Christ within a situation.  Repentance is only a painful thing outside of a relationship with Christ.  In faith, repentance is a glorious occasion as we revel in the grace of Jesus!  

   Sadly much of the modern churches theology has stemmed from unbelief.  Many of God's children struggle under the spirit of condemnation, fear, and uselessness because of demon inspired theology. They believe they will always struggle with sin, that they are in continual need of salvation. Sadly their 'humility',or grounding, is in the false self rather than true reality.  This has made the church weak, and has a form of Godliness but denies its power (2 Tim. 3:5).  Much of the church is still kneeling at the foot of the cross rather than coming out of the tomb resurrected! Paul's teachings were centered around faith, God's strength not our weakness, Jesus' forgiveness not the fall of Adam, us being Saints not sinners.  We ultimately need a faith revival, where we stand upon the word of God and say it is true regardless of our experiences.  We need to stop fighting salvation and accept it, stop belittling ourselves and take up the armor of God to step out as the brave and holy warriors He has created us to be.

   Through faith, a renewed mind, we know we have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3).  Remember that faith comes by hearing, hearing what (Romans 10:17)? The good news.  The good news is the finished work of the Christ. Hear it, know it, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the faith to believe it! Christ has given us freedom from the penalty of sin and from sin itself.  In fact we don't even have a sinful nature anymore, ha! That is the new identity, living in, with, and through Jesus!  Be free, be joyful, and rest in His presence that doesn't condemn, isn't disappointed in you, and loves continuously!

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:4-10)."

No Condemnation. . . None (Part 2)

  So who is 'in Christ'?  Paul, in speaking to citizens of Athens says, "HE made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of you own poets have said.  'For we also are His children.' Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or sliver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man (Acts 17:26-30)." Paul here is talking to Pagans! To unbelievers! Yet he is speaking the truth to them,  he is preaching the message of reconciliation! He is preaching the finished work of Christ!  He is viewing them and speaking to them as they are forgiven already, because they are.  He is speaking to their true identity in hopes that they will come to believe the truth. We don't say they need to be saved we tell them that they need to accept the fact that Jesus already saved them 2000 yrs ago.  They have just been beguiled into thinking they need to save themselves in one way or another. But that lie, is a lie, which means that it isn't true. 

"Therefore from now on we recognize no one according tot he flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  HE made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)."

     God, through Christ reconciled the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19).  He died for the sins of the World (John 1:29)! Jesus was sent because God loved the whole world (John 3:16).  And He desires everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4) as He gave himself as a ransom for all people (1 Tim. 2:6).  A knowledge of the truth? What is the truth? Jesus says that you will 'Know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32).' Knowing it will set you free, the truth itself will not.  

    The crazy implications of all of this, is that all people have been paid for, their sins have been forgiven.  It is not longer an issue of forgiven or unforgiven, saved or unsaved, but rather believer or unbeliever.  "For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22)."  

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.  The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.  For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:6-21).

    We literally, in every way, live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).  We call things that are not as though they are (Romans 4:17).  Faith exposes the lie and replaces it with the truth.  Reality is reality whether we agree with it or not.  "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2-3)." 

No Condemnation. . . None (Part 1)

    This is one of my longest blogs, but I think that it contains very important revelation. God has been teaching me a lot about His grace and its power.  I have tried to compile these things into a cohesive message using mainly scripture passages.  I pray that this helps you gain a new perspective on what Jesus accomplished on the cross, and that the Holy Spirit renews our minds as we carry out the ministry of reconciliation.  Grace is so wonderful!

    God does not condemn you or anybody else for sin. Does that sound strange to you, it did to me at first. The law condemns sin in sinful man, but it is only because they do not believe in Jesus. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were veil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:17-21)."

     Those who are against God are 'enemies in their minds' only.  They are believing a lie.  "For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Colossians 1:19-20)." He has reconciled all things to Himself!! All things!! But that doesn't mean we believe it. Paul explains this crazy reconciliation further, "And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in min, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:21-22)."  The issue that the world faces isn't the power of sin, its the lie that sin still has power, and that it is still necessary to do something in order to reconcile ourselves to God.  The truth is that we are already reconciled we just aren't agreeing with what Jesus paid for 2000 yrs ago!

     It is common to not want to step into the light because of fear of condemnation.  We feel bad for doing bad and not doing good, and so we are afraid to bring things to God because we are believing a lie about how he views us.  Look at the woman who was caught committing adultery.

"But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?' They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.  But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.  But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'I do not condemn you, either.  Go. From now on sin no more (John 8:1-11)."

     Do you see the lie? The lie is that if we expose our deeds we will reap condemnation, but the truth is we will reap forgiveness and the power over sin, to 'sin no more'.  "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life (John 8-12)." Now that is good news!

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who are according tot he flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those whoa re according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself tot he law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:1-8)."

Realizing Holiness not Sinfulness

God has recreated you! 'Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, the new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17)." We are commanded in two places, Romans 6 and Colossians 3, to consider ourselves dead to sin.  Why should we reckon ourselves dead to sin? Because we actually are! You are now righteous and Holy because the full righteous requirement of the Law has been met in you (Romans 8:4). Your actions no longer affect this reality, and agreeing with the truth actually sets you free so you no longer have to sin (John 8:32).  The only thing that will set you free from sin is knowing the truth, what is the truth? That you have already been set free!

Now I am writing this blog to correct a misconception.  Many believers, as they begin to learn more about the Lord and increase in knowledge, begin to perceive more and more sinful habits or thoughts that they didn't notice before.  Many times we understand that as revealing how sinful we actually are, that our sinfulness comes in layers, deeper and deeper.  This is a deception! You have been made new, you have been born again.  Your awareness of more sin is not a reflection of your depravity but of your holiness.  Do not give power to the devil by believing he still has a hold on your life.  Your increased awareness and disgust of sin is a revelation of how Holy you have actually been made.  You are realizing how righteous God has made you! Hallelujah!!!

Break away from the lie and enter into the truth.  Be encouraged, not discouraged. In this way repentance is a joyous occasion, because it reveals the finished work of Jesus inside of us not the incomplete work.  Do not own your sin, as soon as you own it you fall into unbelief.  Yes you did it, but even your repentance shows that the action wasn't you! So repent freely, without guilt.  "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)."

It is finished: 2 Misconceptions

The finished work of the cross is the most important thing to understand . . . period.  There are a number of things that are included in the finished work of Christ.  1).  That Jesus not only paid the penalty for our sin but that he actually defeated the power of sin itself.  Because of that we can live outside of sin's control and power; in other words it is possible to not sin. 2). That in Jesus we have actually been made into new creations, holy and righteous.  This is not a righteousness from ourselves from works, but by faith in the finished work of Jesus. I am righteous because Jesus paid for me and made me righteous.  This holy standing with God is not affected by my actions, good or bad, and it is in believing this truth that I can actually begin to manifest a holy lifestyle. 3).  That Jesus sacrifice has given us access into living the way that he lived.  Not only in holiness but also in the supernatural.  His sacrifice purified us so that we could receive the Holy Spirit, and just like Him we are commissioned to destroy the works of the devil. That means that we have been given access into healing, prophecy, and all the other spiritual gifts through His authority that is in us.  We also have access into the fullness of joy, peace, and character that he himself possesses.

The finished work of the cross is rarely taught however, and many believers are beguiled into thinking that they still have some part to play in saving themselves, climbing up into the glory, or making themselves pure.
There are two major ways that the church has fallen into deception in regards to what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  I do not mean to categorize every church or believer but to give a rough outline that may help you better understand where you are at in terms of the fullness of Christ's sacrifice.  The first deception comes in thinking that Jesus didn't actually 'finish' the job and that we will always struggle with sin and never walk as Jesus did until we go to heaven. The other misconception is that Jesus made a holy divine life available, but that we still play a part laying hold of it.  This group believes that one must fast, pray, strain, or make some sort of effort to grasp hold of the inheritance that is actually given to them freely.

The first deception occurs within many of the evangelical churches that are spread across the country.  Within these these communities, their theology limits the work of the cross, believing that the fullness of the kingdom is reserved for heaven alone.  Much of their theology formed based on their own experience.  Because they never experienced freedom from sin, theology was created to make room for continual struggle.  Likewise since they never experienced the miraculous, they never expected that it should be a normal thing, or even possible for that matter.  In this way many people have built their theology around unbelief rather than faith. The nature of faith is that it believes beyond experience and beyond circumstance.  It literally pulls the reality of heaven into a collision with the reality of the world. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)."  These communities always tend to, unintentionally, give more power to the devil than to God.  They will justify sickness, death, and tragedy to the will of God.  They believe that they will never understand the will of God, choosing to live in the Old Covenant reality rather than the new (Isaiah 55:9, Colossians 1:26)." This mind-set always leads to uselessness, ineffectiveness, and feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness, and insecurity (2 Peter 1:8).

In some cases these churches have theology that seems to include the fullness of Christ but they still do not expect it experientially.  They will say that it is through Christ's sacrifice that we have a relationship with God, but they never actually experience that relationship because they think it is primarily cognitive in nature. Even though they honor Him with their lips, their hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8).  If someone actually begins to experience more intimacy or breakthrough in certain areas, and then goes to encourage others that there is 'more' to a relationship with God then they have experienced, conflict, bitterness, and envy will arise because they 'intellectually' believe they have experienced everything there is.

The second misconception is often times found in more 'charismatic' circles. In these cases they believe that God has made available every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  They believe in all of the spiritual gifts, manifestations, and the tangible fruits of the spirit.  Their mistake comes in thinking they still need to do something to enter into this reality.  They fast, pray, strain, and altogether make a big effort to become more passionate and radical for God; in so doing they expect that after their effort they will be blessed with more breakthrough in areas of purity, healing, joy, or other such spiritual realities.  Although these groups often do see miracles and experience more of the fullness, they are deceived into thinking it resulted from their own effort. This group has a tendency to be prideful because they think it was by their effort that they now have authority over demons, or peace that passes understanding. In reality, their efforts have only led to accepting a reality that needed no effort on there part in the first place.  God came to pursue man because we could not pursue God.

This is the truth, that Jesus paid it all.  He has given us access into the fullness of the divine life (Ephesians 1,  2 Peter 1).  His sacrifice has allowed us to live as he lived and to do the things that he has done (John 20:21, John 14:12).  "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 may boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10)."  If you are not experiencing part of the fullness of Christ's sacrifice, the answer is not to try harder.  For you are a citizen of heaven seated in heavenly places.  What you need is a renewal of your mind to help you agree with the reality that already fully exists.  This is a work of the spirit that inspires us to live in faith that manifests the kingdom of heaven in our lives.  The only process we are promised is to move from glory to glory into every increasing glory (2 Cor. 3).  This process is only unpacking the incredible reality that we already fully exist within.  We come to know the truth and the truth sets us free (John 8:32). 

Faith comes by hearing, hearing what? The good news. What is the good news? That Jesus has cleaned you up, placed you in heavenly places, and put you right at the center of the presence of His father. Now you can effortlessly sink into your identity in Christ, and begin to see the fruits of heaven produced in your life!!

"To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:1-11)."