MY LIFE: #41 No Religions for Me

My journey was not easy, but it was necessary. I learned that the struggle between law and grace was not about choosing one over the other but about understanding the purpose of both.

THE GOSPEL IS NOT A RELIGION

Religion and all its "works" and programs have been exposed as frauds by the "finished work" of Christ. Consequently, they are quick to belittle and persecute those who teach and live by the grace work of God in Christ. Religions replicate the original, the Gospel of Christ.

Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

(Galatians 6:12)

COMPELLED TO CHANGE

MY LIFE has been a journey from living by the LAW to walking in Grace.

For much of my life, living by the law has been a constant struggle for me. Every day, I find myself bound by rules and regulations, striving to meet every letter of God’s Law, yet often falling short. The burden is heavy, the path steep. While my mind understands the Grace life, my flesh seems to love living in the law.

Overall, I have learned to live the Grace life - a life where mistakes, sins, and failures are not the end but opportunities for growth, where love and resting in Jesus overshadow judgment.

The reality of Grace has always intrigued me; it promises freedom from the shackles of legalism. But can I let go of the law, the only life I’ve known, to embrace the indwelling Grace Life? This is my conquest of my journey.

Preaching Through the Law

Early on, I was known for my strict adherence to the laws of God, living a life of discipline and piety. My sermons were filled with rules and regulations, and I was respected for my unwavering commitment to the laws contained within the Word of God while I wrestled with inner peace.

However, as time passed, I began to feel a growing unease. I found myself struggling to keep up with the stringent laws I preached. The burden of perfection weighed heavily on me, and I felt trapped in a cycle of guilt, condemnation, and repentance.

Years ago, my mentor spoke of God’s Grace, a concept that was foreign to me. Dr. Solomon explained that grace was not about following rules to earn God’s love, but about accepting God’s love despite our imperfections, which made no sense to me.

I was intrigued. I spent many nights wrestling with this new perspective. I questioned his beliefs, his teachings, and his way of life - “feeling” his beliefs excused the sins of humanity. The struggle was intense and filled me with doubt and fear. For a while, I became a lost puppy without a master.

Eventually, I came to understand the beauty of the Grace Life. I realized that living by the law had made me lose sight of God’s UNCONDITIONAL love. I understood that grace did not negate the law but fulfilled it. It was not about disregarding the law but about recognizing that in the flesh, we are all imperfect beings who are loved by God despite our poor decisions.

My writings, media, and sermons began to change. They became less about rules and more about Christ’s love, forgiveness, and grace from the inside out. My congregation noticed the change. They saw a man who was once bound by the law now freed by the Life of Jesus, who is Grace.

My journey was not easy, but it was necessary. I learned that the struggle between law and grace was not about choosing one over the other, but about understanding the purpose of both - that Jesus fulfilled the Law, and our job is to release His Life from within to respect the Laws of God. And in that understanding, I found rest and peace in Christ.

BOASTING IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST

Paul explains that the religious "try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ" (Gal. 6:12). Paul was appealing to the Galatians to NOT want to be persecuted and mocked by other religious people for preaching the grace of God in the activity of Jesus Christ alone.

Paul then declares, "May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14). Paul never wants to boast about what he has done by self-effort or performance, only in what Christ has done and continues to do in him via the "finished work” of Christ.

Christ's "finished work" reconciles both Jew and Gentile into one new creation, new humanity, new body, "through the cross" (Eph. 2:16). The corrective action of Christ's death and the restorative action of Christ's life is for all men universally who respond to His election and is the means whereby they are restored to functional humanity, society, and community, by the functional life of God, through Christ, in man.

Likewise, "all things" are reconciled to God by His "having made peace through the blood of His (Christ’s) cross" (Col. 1:20). The hostility of the whole creation was due to sin, the consequence of sin was death, and death has been taken on by Jesus Christ. Reconciliation, peace, the restoration of all things, the restoration of the elected man has been affected by the "finished work" of Jesus.

Paul decries that there are many who "are enemies of the cross of Christ" (Phil. 3:18). Who are these enemies of the Cross? Those who do not understand and live on the basis of the "finished work" of Christ. They do not accept that Christ has done all that needs doing and continues to be the dynamic of grace for the expression of His life and character in the Indwelt Christian. These "enemies of the cross" still advocate legalistic "works" of self-effort, perfectionistic performance, and religiousness.

The theological significance of the cross must be understood within the context of the "finished work" of God in Christ. Though the cross itself was the death instrument, it was there that Jesus victoriously proclaimed, "It is finished!" The creative action of replacing death for the restorative Life and actions of God's life in the Indwelt Christian. Christ took on death to give us His life to others and took the consequences of our unrighteousness to give us His righteousness. The "finished work" of Jesus Christ is inclusive of redemption, regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification.

BE CAREFUL WITH THE TERM CO-CRUCIFIXION

The Greek word, sustauroõ, which means "to crucify together with." This has often been referred to as the Christian's "co-crucifixion" with Jesus. While being crucified with Christ is a reality, it is NOT to be interpreted as a literal crucifixion. It is best to be careful with such terminology, as the English prefix "co-" can mean "jointly" or "together with." But it also can mean "equally," "in the same degree," or "as a complement to." In reality, the sinful nature of humanity is what was crucified with Christ, which houses the “old self” (flesh) of humanity.

We would not want to imply that our subjective crucifixion experience is of equal significance or in the same degree as the crucifixion of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Nor would we want to imply that our experience of being crucified is a complement to Christ's crucifixion, in order to complete it. Jesus said, "It is finished" (John 19:31) completed, thus, the shared experience for us is applied upon the moment of indwelling salvation! If an individual wants the shared victory of this reality, they must receive the indwelling Life to obtain the results of Christ’s crucifixion.

To experience the truth of being "crucified together with" Jesus, we must understand it in terms of spiritual solidarity. When Jesus died on the cross, He died there FOR me, but He also died as a replacement for me. When He died, I died, that is my old nature. After receiving Christ, I am privileged to say, “I died in Him." Thus, when He died, my Adamic Nature died.

The entire human race was represented by Jesus when He took the death consequences for sin upon Himself, but that spiritual solidarity becomes personal only when an individual receives Jesus Christ by faith. The verb is an aorist tense indicating that "to have been crucified with Him" was a definite occurrence historically enacted when Jesus died on the cross, which becomes experientially effective at the definite occasion of our spiritual conversion.

Paul writes that our "old man" has been crucified together with Christ. The designation "old man" signifies our spiritual identity when we were a "man of old"- referencing our condition under the old nature and its identity. Our pre-indwelt identity was that of a "natural man" (1 Cor. 2:14), a "child of wrath" (Eph. 2:3), or the "old man." The identity of the "old man" was "laid aside" upon salvation (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9), when we became indwelt by Christ and received HIM as the "new man,“ with HIS identity (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10). The old spiritual identity of the unregenerate self is forever dead, having died with Jesus. I now have a new spiritual identity as a "new creature" (2 Cor. 5:17) in Christ, a "child of God" (John 1:12), a Bridal member of Jesus, a "spiritual man” (1 Cor. 2:15; Gal. 6:1), an “Indwelt Christian."

This was made effective for me, in me, spiritually - when I received Jesus Christ by faith at conversion and regeneration. The "old man" is not synonymous with the "flesh" nor "indwelling sin" that remains residually in the soul of the indwelt Christian, nor is it to be equated with the unbiblical phrases such as "old nature," "sin nature," "Adam nature," "self," "sin principle," etc. – for the indwelt believer, these are memories, residual affects the Adamic nature left behind in our flesh. It is not the Old Nature. In this, I found the profound difference between religion and LIFE.

Coming up next is #42, “Taking Up the Cross.”