LAW VERSES INTIMACY

LAW VERSES INTIMACY

                “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious…” 1 Tim 1:8, 9a.

                “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners among whom I am the foremost of all. And yet for this reason I found mercy in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” 1 Tim 1:15, 16.

                “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Gal. 5:22-25.

                “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:3, 4.

                Among the key issues that will separate the righteous from the unrighteous in these last days is the issue of Law. Revelation 12:17 tells us that the Remnant people of God will keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Meanwhile many Christians will adamantly tell you that the law is done away and that we are no longer under the Law.

                Well, in a sense, both those who teach the Law and those that teach that the Law is done away are wrong. Both groups tend to abuse the writings of Paul. They pick out which ever statements Paul makes that fit their side of the argument and so rarely do we see or hear a balance of his entire message.

                The balance of his message is that the Law is fulfilled in those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. In this one statement found in Romans 8:3, 4, He does away with both arguments either for the Law, or for its removal.

                The Christian life is meant to be one of intimacy with Yeshua through His Holy Spirit. In this kind of relationship with Yeshua, the fruit of the Spirit is being produced to bless all of those around us. And yet we take the fruit of the Spirit too lightly. We ignore it saying, “Oh I am Irish, I have a bad temper.” Or “I am just that way… it runs in the family.” And we go our merry way soundly admitting that we are living according to the flesh rather than according to the Spirit.

                But the fruit of the Spirit is not optional for the born again Christian. The Holy Spirit admonishes us when we fail to live by it, just as much as the Law does. If I am unkind, or hateful, or impatient with others, there should be red flags going up in my heart.  I am now misrepresenting the One to whom I am betrothed.

                We claim to be a part of His Bride, but we are not of His kind. We do not love as He loves. We do not forgive as He forgave us. We hold grudges, we gossip, we judge, we see a church full of hypocrites rather than seeing imperfect people that might just need our encouragement and prayers.

                Paul said, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ came into the world to save sinners…” 1 (Tim. 1:15a) So do we look at people through the eyes of Yeshua, or do we look at them through the eyes of the flesh?

                The Pharisees saw a prostitute. Jesus saw a hungry and desperate heart. We see hypocrites, Yeshua sees immature people who have not yet learned to live by His Spirit. He seeks to draw them close… we push them away. He leaves all judgment to the Father. We judge them on the spot.

                The Lord Yeshua is calling us into a whole new arena now. He is calling us completely out of Babylon and its ways. As His Bride we must reflect His character, His ways, His Spirit, His fruit.

                It is not a burden if we are dead to self and living by His Spirit in intimate relationship with Him. In the secret place of the Most High, the law no longer applies, because our hearts are knitted to His heart… our thoughts, His thoughts, our motives, His motives. We too are in the world to seek and to save the lost, not to judge them. And this love that we now share with Yeshua through His Holy Spirit stretches all the way down to a willingness to die for the sake of one soul.

                What would this Christian life be like if we did only what we saw the Father doing and said only what we heard the Father saying? What would it look like if we actually lived by the Spirit rather than by the flesh? What if the Holy Spirit, instead of being just something we feel in a good worship service, was actually the ruling factor in our day to day lives?

                We feel the Holy Spirit in church, but do we feel Him when we get cut off in line? Do we sense His fruit overriding our flesh? Do we see opportunities for love rather than for anger?

                We see Bible texts such as Revelation 14:6-10 as a great corporate call out of Babylon, but do we see it also as a personal call to get Babylon out of us?

                We see the issues that divide the church and the world clearly in such issues as abortion and homosexual marriage, but do we see it in our hearts as we daily choose between flesh and spirit? Do we not sometimes point fingers at the sinners in order to feel more righteous… like we have a cause to fight for rather than lost souls to be saved?

                These last day prophetic issues are much more personal than we often realize. After all, the biggest battle is the one raging in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is calling us to a death. He is calling us to righteousness and holiness. He is calling us to be conformed to Yeshua’s image. He is calling us to be complete in Him. In fact Paul says in 1 Thess. 5:23, 24:

                “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass.”

                Today’s church says, “I am no longer under the Law. I can eat what I want, drink what I want, think what I want and watch what I want and I don’t really have to bear the fruit of the Spirit in my life because I am under grace. God understands and He will forgive me no matter how many times I sin.”

                Friends, such people as that are in no way preparing to be the Bride of Christ.

                “So then brethren we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh- for if you are living according to the flesh you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

                It’s not even about law for us anymore. It is about a growing and intimate relationship with Yeshua through His Holy Spirit. It is about putting to death the deeds of the flesh in order that we can become one with Jesus… to know Him even as a husband knows a wife when they conceive a child.

                Paul said it like this: “My children with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.” Gal. 4:19 And then he goes on to explain that the law cannot get us there and then in Gal. 5:16 he says: But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the deeds of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

                So, as you can see, not being under law is in no way license to sin or to break the Law. It simply means that we, having died to the flesh are now living by the Spirit. We are all in labor until Christ is formed in us. This has been the goal of the Law, the Prophets and the Holy Spirit for all time and we are the final generation through which God desires to make manifest the glory of His Son. He will do it by presenting His bride to the world as exhibit “A” in His ability to save the lost and to present them faultless before the throne.

                Paul is a living example to us as to how Yeshua could take the chief of sinners, to transform him and to use him as a bright light in His kingdom. Paul lived by the Spirit. He poured out His life for others and he ultimately gave his life for his beloved Savior. In his life then we see the reality of his message.

                “Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.