“Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:8)
Christians: Are you still living in the realm of the flesh? If you are like most Christians today, then you most certainly are. Unfortunately, many Christians today have not the slightest idea as to what this even means! What drives your behavior? His Spirit, or the sin that rests within your heart? Has the old man died? Can you give testimony to the new creation? If not, then you have not yet died and are indeed still living in the realm of the flesh! The realm of the flesh is sin, and the only way to be set free from sin is through death. (Rom. 6:6-13) And since the Truth regarding what is required to receive the Holy Spirit is no longer taught, what we have today is a bunch of “believers” (they call themselves Christians) living without His Spirit! Unless you are born again, you will not see His kingdom. (John 3:3) You cannot be born “again” unless you have first died! (Col. 3:3, 2 Tim. 11) Of course, this “death” is referring to spiritual death, not physical. But that does not mean that this death is not real!
We are born of sinful flesh. (Rom. 5:12) Meaning, we are born spiritually dead (without Christ) and live to gratify the sinful desires of our flesh (pride, envy, selfish ambition, lust, greed, etc.). “Sinning” demonstrates that you remain in the realm of the flesh, and desire that which God hates; the act of sin is your spiritual obedience to Satan. (Rom. 6:16-17, Gal. 5:16-17, 1 John 3:6-10) This is why you cannot please God if you are still in the realm of the flesh, living to gratify the desires of your sinful nature! Again, you do not receive His Spirit without first dying with Christ to sin. This is demonstrated by a genuine repentance, a full surrender of your will to serve His, and obedience to His commands. These expressions reflect the actions that accompany sincerity of heart, a prerequisite for your profession to result in receiving His promise, the Holy Spirit! (Rom. 10:10) But to be clear, you do not receive Him unless you have crucified sin in the flesh! (Gal. 5:24) You must agree with God about sin, hate the sin within your heart, and wholeheartedly commit to living in His Light in order to receive Him, the power to live to the glory of God! (John 3:19-21, John 16:8-11)
One of the many catastrophic consequences of a false teaching is that it renders those within the church spiritually bankrupt, the subjects within the church today live in spiritual darkness and they are not even aware of it. Believers are told by their pastors, “Now if you’ll accept Jesus as your Savior, then you are ‘saved’. Your sins will be forgiven, and you are now a Christian; a child of God, living with His Spirit!” Infuriating! This lie is leading many believers down a wide path to hell! (Matt. 23:15) As deception goes, it requires that there be a little bit of truth leading one to the wrong conclusion. With this complete garbage (the salvation message heard within the church today) you have to search really hard to find any teeny-tiny bit of any possible “truth” within this false teaching to qualify this preaching as deception; for me, it’s just an outright lie! Sure, a child of God most certainly is one who has been forgiven of their past sins and lives with His Spirit. But what I am referring to is the condition required for one to obtain this union (reconciliation to God). This lie presumes that you attain salvation by simply accepting Jesus as the One who has the power to bring about this union with no personal responsibility in meeting His conditions to obtain Him. Well, a nice start that may be, believing in God! Congratulations, you have almost reached the same level of “belief” as that of the demons! (James 2:19) Hopefully, with a healthy side of some more Truth in His Word, you’ll spiritually grow to understand why it is that they “shudder”!
So where is our “trembling” today, where is the fear of the Lord in our teaching? (Luke 12:5, Phil. 2:12) It has been removed! And that reality prevents one from coming to know the Lord! (Prov. 1:7) Fear has no place in a false teaching where there is no perceived consequence for your transgressions! For those who buy the lie, they believe that Romans 8:1 applies to all who have “accepted Christ as their Savior”, rather than this scripture applying to those who have actually met His conditions (crucified sin in the flesh) and do indeed live with His Spirit. There is a world of difference! His Truth is that there is now no condemnation for those who turn from sin and wickedness and are actually “in” Christ Jesus. This is not to say that simply because one quotes some empty words (shallow lip service), or performs some meaningless rituals then goes about their sinning, that Christ’s blood will cleanse their unrepentant hearts! To be clear, His Word reveals that those who have been forgiven are those who have genuinely repented, hate sin, and no longer live to gratify the desires of the sinful nature that they put to death! (Col. 3:5-10, 1 John 3:6-10) So does His Truth in the matter align with the message that you heard and accepted?
Are you “in Christ Jesus”? Do you indeed live with His Spirit? The personal testimony of a person who truly surrenders their life to Christ and receives His Spirit is powerful and encouraging no doubt, and these Awesome stories are unique to each person. However, there is one common theme that underlies each one, and that is, the new creation that results! Now, by “new creation”, I am not talking about someone who previously felt “unworthy”, “unloved”, dejected, sad, and lonely now feeling loved, accepted, happy, or part of the team. As wonderful of a transformation as that sounds, this does not describe a transformation that requires divine intervention! There are therapists (medications) and self-help books that can bring about that type of emotional “change”. That, however, is not the type of transformation that I am talking about; I’m talking about the kind of transformation that is only obtained by the power of the Spirit of the Lord, the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe! Amen? I’m talking about experiencing the reality of living with a new heart, living with the freedom from the bondage of sin, and living with the inexpressible joy that walking in His Light (obeying His commands and serving His will) brings! This is a freedom from the fear of all the enemy’s lies and understanding the humility that comes from a full surrender of “self”. This speaks to the regenerated man! And this is only possible through His Spirit!
So, what about you? Have you experienced the new creation? “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.” (Gal. 6:15) It is paramount that you grasp what Paul is saying here. He is referring to the circumcision of the flesh meaning absolutely nothing! (Phil. 3:3-14) What does that mean? It means that all the things that we say and do mean absolutely nothing without dying with Christ to sin and truly coming to receive His Spirit (know Him)! The only circumcision that matters is a circumcision of the heart — the new creation! (Rom. 2:28-29)
The confidence that we have in this union is His Spirit Himself! So, do you know that you are in Him by the Spirit He gave you, or do you “know” that you are in Him because that is what someone told you? (1 John 3:24) Because when it comes to being “in Christ”, His Spirit is the only One who can testify to that union! (Rom. 8:9) You cannot obtain this union by accepting a false teaching, and you cannot obtain this union simply because you do desire to obtain it! (Rom. 9:16) Christians: Do you feel Him? Do you keep His Word? Do you obey His commands? Or better yet, do you even know what His Word says, and what His commands entail? Because as “Christians”, by and large, we have become a people ignorant of God, living with no fear in our eyes, and a love of self dominating our hearts!
Reject the false teaching within the church today. Earnestly seek the Lord in His Word and in prayer. Fear the Lord and come to know Him! Meet His conditions and crucify sin in the flesh, die with Christ to sin and be baptized with His Spirit! Wholeheartedly commit to living your life in His Light, repent, fully surrender your will to serve His and win Life!
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