Salvation – Recovery In Christ Ministries

June 2, 2016

Follow the unseen

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith is the foundation that we stand upon, in order to receive that which God has promised, and it is the proof that we are seeking a reality, which we can’t see with our physical eyes, within our current temporal frame of reference.

Paul said that if we would walk in the Spirit, then we would not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16) Paul also said that it was the standard operating procedure for a Christian to walk by faith, and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

What Paul, and the writer of Hebrews, is telling us is that if we want to overcome our flesh, the devil, and the world, and receive what God has promised us, we must embrace the unseen reality that God says is real, based strictly on God’s promise that it is real, and live in that unseen reality, and let it guide us through this temporal realm.

God says that we can rise above the flesh, and live out our salvation, here on the earth, before we leave this corrupted flesh and enter into eternity in order to experience its fullness. (Philippians 2:12)

This is extremely important, because addiction occurs when we give ourselves completely over to the lust of our flesh. Our flesh craves comfort, and it is willing to sacrifice everything and everybody in our lives to get that comfort. Addicts are captives of their own flesh!

Consequently, the only real and lasting solution to addiction is to learn how to live and walk in the Spirit, and then live each day in the Spirit, so that the Spirit can direct each step in your earthly walk.

I know this seems like a nebulous statement, which is overwhelming. Just relax: Don’t worry, you will grow and learn how to live and walk in the Spirit, if you seek to live and walk in the Spirit. The more you study the Scriptures, and discover, who you really are, and exercise your spiritual senses to discern good and evil, the more proficient you will become at living and walking in the Spirit. (Hebrews 5:14)

Most people worry that they will mess up, and follow the flesh, while thinking they are following the Spirit. Let me assure you that you will, but that’s ok. Grace covers your sins and shortcomings. Just do the best you can, and exercise your spiritual senses. The results you get from your actions will let you know whether you are following the flesh, or the Spirit. Relax, God has you covered. (Romans 4:8)

Who are you?

It is imperative that we know, who we are, because knowing, who we are provides the framework that guides what we do. When I was an addict, I knew that I was an addict, so I did what addicts do. And for the most part, it didn’t bother me, because I was being who I was.

That all changed when I hit “rock-bottom”, and suddenly being an addict wasn’t fun, or comforting to my flesh anymore. It hadn’t been fun or comforting for a while, but rock bottom brought it to a head. I had to change in order to survive, and have any peace, or comfort.

What did I need to change? Did I simply need to put myself in a safe place where I couldn’t get drugs, until the chemical chains fell off my body? No, that was just the beginning. I had to become a new person with new desires. But how could I possibly become a new person?

Well, I stopped self-identifying as an addict, and self-identified as a born-again child of God. I embraced, with every fiber of my being, my new identity “in Christ”. That meant that I read the Scriptures, and chose to believe what God said I had become when His Spirit fused Himself with my spirit, which made me a totally new creature in Him.

Even though my physical eyes beheld the wreckage of my life, and “who” I had become, my spiritual eyes obtained momentary glimpses of who I really was in Christ, and the glorious future that He had planned for me. I felt a little psychotic, and people didn’t understand the goal that I was striving for, which was the high calling of God.

Accordingly, I could not afford to sit around in meetings and call myself an addict, and listen to people talk about drugs, and the carnage that comes with them. No, I had become a new person, so I had to forget those things that were in the past and press on towards the high calling of God in Christ. (Philippians 3:13-14)

The unseen reality

In my childhood, I suffered spiritual abuse, at the hand of institutionalized religion. The God they preached was angry with me, and the only way I could get on His good side was to “be good”, and do what He said to do. I thought that if I kept God’s laws, He would love me, and bless me. (This attitude is hard to shake, and it still rises up to torment me from time to time, and I have to cast it down.)

My spirit, the real me, lives in a corrupt flesh vessel (my body). My body was born into sin and corruption, so it has all kinds of diseased emotions, which move me towards sin, corruption, and death. The Bible calls these emotions, and the mindsets that correlate with them, “the flesh”. This is exactly what we need to overcome in the Spirit, so that we can live lives of peace, prosperity, and freedom.

Here’s the problem: God’s law actually strengthens the diseased emotions in our corrupt body, which increases sin’s control over our lives! (Romans 7:8) So, if we do not want sin to rule over us, we must not base our relationship with God on whether or not we keep His laws. (Romans 6:14) We must base our relationship with God on the grace that Jesus’ blood freely bestows upon us. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Yes, it is true. God loves and accepts us just the way we are, warts and all! (Romans 5:8) In Christ, you are holy, un-blamable, and un-reprovable. (Colossians 1:22) In Christ, you are the righteousness of God! (2 Corinthians 5:21) Jesus redeemed us for all eternity. (Hebrews 9:12) Jesus has given us eternal life. (John 6:47)

Even though we can’t see these things with our physical eyes, or feel like they are true, they are true! And if you will believe them, and live as though they are true, you will enter into God’s rest. (Hebrews 4:9-10) Not only will you rest in God, but this restfulness will defuse the diseased emotions that move you towards sin, so that you can overcome it. This is how you escape from the trap of addiction.

So, you can try to “be good” and earn God’s approval, and blessings by focusing on your sin problem, and fighting against it, or you can simply focus on, who you are, and what you have “in Christ”. If you choose to focus on your sin, and trying to defeat it, you will sink further into despair. If you choose, however, to focus on, who you are in Christ, you will reframe your life, and then, over a period of time, your behavior will conform to that new framework, and your desires will change. That is the solution. (What then? Shall we sin, so that grace should abound. No, God forbid. More on this in the next post)

So, here is the fundamental choice: Do we walk by sight, and follow what we see, or do we walk by faith, and follow the unseen?

December 19, 2015December 20, 2015

Silver or Gold

During this joyous time of the year, when we crave peace, prosperity and goodwill, we are really sensitive to anything that steals our peace. Things that disrupt, and diminish the quality of our lives, or the lives of our loved ones, have a very profound effect upon us.

In general, and in particular, during this time of year, it’s as if, we paint an idealistic picture of life, and anything that distorts this image causes confusion, depression, and anger to rise up in us.

In an attempt to remediate this confusion, depression, and anger, we look for reasons, answers, and solutions that will restore our peace.

We search for information that will give meaning to our sufferings, so that we can be at peace with what is happening, in our lives.

Information, by its very nature, is contextual, which is why it can not be understood properly, unless it is considered “in context.”

This is exactly the problem.

The material universe establishes the context in which the natural mind functions, and derives meaning from objects and events.

Yahweh (God) created the universe, but He is outside of it.

Consequently, we can not know Yahweh, and His plans and purposes by assigning meaning to objects and events, which are viewed through the lens of our experiences in the material realm.

No, when it comes to the ultimate meaning, we do not have the “global context”, which is needed to assign meaning to objects, and events, because we live outside of that global context, and if we assign meaning to objects and events based on our limited material context, we will be confused, bewildered, angry and discouraged.

This problem has perplexed men for 6,ooo years, and some have lost their faith over it (or shall I say, this problem tried their faith, and their faith was found to be superficial, and not of the saving kind).

C.S. Lewis called this perplexing problem, “the problem of evil”. How could our loving, all powerful God permit suffering and evil, on the earth? Charles Darwin could not understand suffering and evil, so he renounced his faith in the Creator Jesus Christ, and His Father.

Darwin could not understand how an all powerful, all loving God could stand by and permit such suffering and evil, in the world.

The reality is that Charles never had saving faith, and this trial proved it, because he walked away from Christ. (1John 2:19)

We must realize that the trying of our faith is far more more precious than silver or gold, because it shows forth our saving faith.

Yahweh tried Job’s faith, and, during his trial, he experienced suffering on a grand scale, but, still, his confession was that he knew that his Redeemer lived, and would save him. Job’s saving faith shinned through the darkness of his trial, for all to see.

Job was honest about his feelings, and many misconceptions about Yahweh, and his circumstances spewed forth from his mouth, but He did not hold it against him, because he never wavered in his faith.

Again, we do not have the “global context” that is needed to make sense out of these things. Job learned this painful lesson, along with his well-meaning friends, and each of us must learn it also.

We have an advantage over Job, and his friends, we have the Bible, which establishes a context that will allow us to be at peace with our very limited knowledge, and accept whatever comes our way.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who is aware of a sparrow’s death, and certainly knows everything that is happening in our lives.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who has a purpose behind everything, and everybody He creates.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who takes suffering and evil, and makes something good come from it.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who loves us enough to become one of us, and die the most painful spiritual and physical deaths possible, in order to reconcile us to Him.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who is perfectly righteous in His ways.

Using the context that Scripture establishes, we can assign meaning to the objects and events of our life, and be at peace with them.

Here is what I mean.

We can not possibly understand how the suffering and evil that we experience is changing us, and equipping us for eternity, but we know the One, who is permitting this suffering and evil to afflict us, AND WE TRUST IN HIM 100%. AND WE TRUST THAT WHAT HE IS PERMITTING IS THE VERY BEST FOR US, IN THE LONG RUN.

That doesn’t mean that it is easy, or fun, and we have to enjoy it.

When I was bringing my kids up, I had to spank them. I had to let them suffer the consequences of their behavior. I had to let them do things that I knew were wrong. I had to make them work.

In short, I had to let them experience suffering and evil. Did I take pleasure in doing this? No, I did it so that their experiences would form them into men and women, who would be equipped to function in this world, and prosper. Sometimes love isn’t pleasurable.

In the same way, the Lord takes no pleasure in permitting us to suffer and face evil. No, I am sure it greaves Him, but the Lord lets us experience suffering and face evil, here and now, because it will form us and equip us to function in our eternal existence with Him.

So, here is the bottom line: We may not always know the why, but we certainly always know the Who, of our circumstances.

If you are mourning over a loss, during this season, I mourn with you over your loss, but I also rejoice with you in the trying of your faith, because, through these trials, you are receiving the assurance of your salvation, which is far more precious than silver or gold!

October 2, 2015

Walking in the Spirit

In the last post, we learned that life is a test. The Primary test is whether or not we will submit to Yahweh (God), and crown Him as Lord , by crowning Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) as Lord of our life.

The most important thing that we can possibly do in life, is pass the Primary test. Passing the Primary test imparts life, and life eternal to us. The most tragic thing that can possibly happen to us, is for us to live our life for ourselves, and fail the Primary test. Failing the Primary test ensures that we remain dead, dead eternally.

It doesn’t make sense, to the natural mind, how we can live, and yet be dead, but nevertheless, this is the case when we fail the Primary test. Have you ever heard someone speak, and yet didn’t hear what they said? Have you ever looked at something without really seeing it? Sure you have. In the same way, you can live, without truly living.

Everyone of us is born, dead, dead in trespasses and sins, not our trespasses and sins, but Adam’s. We are all separated from God. We are all born onto the Serpent’s (the Devil’s) slave market, and he owns us. Hence, in our natural state, we serve Satan, and sin.

As we live in the world, in a body of flesh and blood, Satan shapes us. Satan equips us to do his bidding, and oppose Yahweh and His Kingdom. Satan uses the things of the world to satisfy the desires of our flesh, the desires of our eyes, and the pride of life. (1John 2:16)

As we walk (live) in the world, in a body of flesh and blood (in the flesh) satisfying the desires of the flesh, eyes and ego, we program (or train) our flesh, eyes, and ego. This programming is cognitive (in the mind), neurological (in the brain), and biological (in the body). Once we train ourselves, we operate on autopilot, and we are wide-open to the suggestions of our master, and we do his bidding.

In a sense, we are zombies. We are alive cognitively, neurologically, and biologically, but we are dead to God, and His insight and leading. We are without God, and without hope in the world. A sad state.

Once we pass the Primary test, this all changes. God unites Himself with our human spirit, and becomes one with our human spirit. Since, God is love, light, and life, we begin to live and embrace the light, and love one another. We are now truly alive forever.

Now we enter into the Secondary test.

The Secondary Test

The blood of Messiah has paid our sin debt, and ransomed us off of the Serpent’s slave market, and His Spirit has made us alive forever! The issue of Heaven and Hell is settled. We can rest assured that God is with us, and He will never leave or forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5)

Now we begin the Secondary test. This is a test to see how aggressively we will live out God’s purpose for our life. What purpose? Well, God has assigned each of us a task in His Kingdom, and foreordained some good works for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) God tells us to take off the old man, and put on the new man, who He created in His own image, and likeness, in Christ Jesus. (Col 3:10)

So, the Secondary test is to live out God’s purpose for our lives, and conform ourselves to the image of Christ Jesus. There are rewards for passing this test, which are proportional to our performance. Our performance on this test determines our eternal rewards, and the degree to which we enjoy our salvation, here in this world.

It is very important to always keep in mind that we are striving to fulfill our purpose, and do good works, and conform to Yeshua’s image, in order to enjoy our salvation, and earn eternal rewards, not to earn our salvation, or even keep it. Salvation is a free gift that Yahweh gives us, and He will never take it back. (Rom 5:15, 11:29)

This may seem like a trivial point, but it is not. It is easy to forget that we are doing good works because of who we are, and not to become, who we are. That is, we do good works because God has saved us, not to get Him to save us or let us keep our salvation.

Some people conflate the concepts of salvation, and sanctification, and the Scriptures that describes these two distinct concepts. As they do, they confuse themselves, and then confuse others. These people teach others that “eternal life” is not eternal, and that if we do not measure up to God’s expectations, He will reject us.

This is the same error the Jews made in the “Old Testament”. Yahweh cut an unconditional unilateral covenant with Abraham, which was the covenant of redemption. The covenant of redemption was based on faith, and it brought salvation. Later, Yahweh cut a covenant through Moses, which was the covenant of sanctification. The covenant of sanctification was a conditional, bilateral covenant that related to blessings, and the enjoyment of salvation.

An “old testament” person was saved by believing Yahweh’s promises, and that person enjoyed the blessings of his salvation by doing good works, and conforming to Yahweh’s image (keeping the law). In time, however, the Jews conflated theses two covenants, and began to teach that salvation came through good works. This is what Yeshua came to demolish, He did not come to demolish the law.

The flesh loves to feel like it has earned salvation or somehow merits it (deserves to keep it). There is no greater boost to the ego! This is a constant danger that we must be on guard against, because it will steal your peace, energize the flesh, and destroy your witness.

In the next post, we will talk about how to score high on the Secondary test. That is, we will talk about how to keep the flesh under control, so we can enjoy our salvation, and accumulate eternal rewards. So, in the next post, we will talk about walking in the Spirit.