Author: newmanforchrist

It was for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  Galatians 5:1

   Jesus Christ died to set us free from sin – not only from the penalty of sin but also from the power of sin.  When Christ died, God included us in His Son’s death.  Because our sinful nature died with Christ, we have been eternally freed from bondage to sin.  “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that our sinful nature might be done away, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin (Romans 6:6-7).”  This is our glorious victory over sin in Christ!

   After we have experienced this great salvation, what’s next?  We must be careful to avoid the mistake of the Galatian Christians, whom the apostle Paul chastised, “Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to perfect yourselves by your human effort? (Galatians 3:3).” The Galatians experienced this miraculous born again experience but were then deceived into thinking they must sanctify themselves by their own effort.  Paul reminded them that all their effort would never set them free from sin.  Only Christ’s death on the cross sets us free from sin. We could not crucify ourselves and we cannot sanctify ourselves.  Because of Christ’s death on the cross, we no longer have an old Adam nature; however, if we still have an unrenewed mind (the old Adam way of thinking), we will have a natural tendency to think we can be righteous because of our own merit and that we can resist sin by our own strength. Even after the Holy Spirit gives us divine revelation that only Christ’s death on the cross gave us freedom from the power of sin, our natural habit (especially under stress) will be to fall back on our own strength to try to master sin.

   Trying to sanctify ourselves this way is not only burdensome; it is impossible.  We need to stand firm by faith in the liberty we have in Christ and resist the inclination to do anything by our own self-effort, knowing it would be fruitless.  The work of God never changes – it is always the work of faith.  Jesus said, “This is the work of God – that you believe in Him whom He has sent (John 6:29).”  Now that Christ has completely delivered us from our sinful nature and the power of sin, our work of faith is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and His finished work on the cross.   This is how we live the Christian life.  Many Christians think now that Jesus has saved us, we should try hard to sanctify ourselves.  But we must remember that Jesus is not only the author of our faith (our salvation); He is also the perfecter of our faith (our sanctification) (Hebrews 12:2).  

   Whenever we step out of God’s work of faith and enter into our own effort, we take the burden for our sanctification out of God’s hands and put it in our own hands.  This prevents God from doing the sanctifying work of the Spirit in us that comes only from faith.  It also produces ungodly anxiety and stress since we have decided (in unbelief) that the work of God now depends on our own effort. This yoke of unbelief is an awful burden to bear.  The Bible calls it “the yoke of slavery.”  This man-made yoke is in marked contrast to Jesus’ yoke.  He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you… My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).”   

   Now that we are saved, we can “count ourselves to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).”  The Greek word used here for count is logizomai, which is an accounting term meaning “credit to the account.” The language of mathematics is precise and certain.  All over the world, one plus one equals two.  This Scripture means we can count on the fact that we are dead to sin with absolute certainty just as we can count on the fact that one plus one equals two.  Now that we have died with Christ and we no longer have a sinful nature, we should present ourselves each day as a living and holy sacrifice to God.  As we do this, God will renew our minds and transform our souls by His Word (Romans 12:1-2; see also Ephesians 4:23).”

   It is important to remember that faith is always active – not passive.  We cannot just forget about what Jesus has done on the cross and then expect God to transform us.  Many Christians have drifted away from the faith because they unwisely practiced this kind of “passive faith,” which is really not faith at all.    True faith actively believes and acts on the divine facts.  If we never actively believed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for our sins, we would never be saved.  In the same way, if we do not actively believe that Jesus Christ included us in His death to remove our sinful nature and free us from sin’s bondage, we will never experience freedom from chronic and entangling sins. 

  We need to stand firm by faith in the spiritual freedom Christ has purchased for us on the cross.  Whenever we find ourselves afraid and overcome by sin, it is a sign that we have stepped out of this place of faith.  At that point, we should repent and return to fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ – who He is and what He has done for us on the cross.  Whenever we are overwhelmed by a sense of failure, it reveals we are trying to sanctify ourselves in our own strength instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ.  Whenever we become religiously merciless with ourselves and with others around us, it is an indication that we have stepped out of that place of faith in Christ.  Christ’s burden is easy and His yoke is light and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is spiritual liberty and mercy; not carnal severity.  We cannot sanctify ourselves and we cannot sanctify others; only Christ can accomplish His sanctification in each one of us.  Therefore, we must remember to always stand firm on the sure foundation of faith in Christ and His completed work on the cross, by which He has given us spiritual liberty and rest.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17  “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36

Everyone who sins is a slave to sin… so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:34-36 “Now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”  Romans 6:22

   At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus Christ declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners (Luke 4:18).”  Jesus fulfilled this mission by dying on the cross.  God used His Son’s death to set us free from the kingdom of darkness and bring us into His kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13).  The Bible says, “God set you free when He sent His own Son… to be a sacrifice for our sin (Romans 8:3).”   

   Before we were saved, we were slaves to the fear of the destructive power of sin in our life (Romans 8:15).  But through the cross, Christ has set us free from the guilt and condemnation of sin.  “For by the death of Christ we are set free… our sins are forgiven (Ephesians 1:7).”  When we were still lawless and rebels to God, we were enslaved to sin.  But through His death, Christ freed us from this power of sin.  “We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that our sinful nature might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6).”  When we were still unbelievers, many of us were afraid of physically dying.  But, even as believers, many of us are still afraid of sin’s power; wrongly believing we are still captive to sin.  However, by His death, Jesus has freed us from this fear of death and sin’s stranglehold.  “So that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15)”

   Therefore, by Christ’s death on the cross, we have been forever freed from the fear of sin’s dominion and the fear of death.  It is crucial for us to know that sin is no longer master over us and death no longer has dominion over us.  “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death (Roman 8:1).” Why?  Because the Bible says that through Christ’s death we have been “brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God… 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; 21).”  Before we were born of the Spirit, we were enemies of God.  But by His Son’s death on the cross, God has set us free to be His bondslaves.  How did God deliver us from the power of sin and produce this miraculous change of heart in us – from godless, rebellious sinners to devoted bondslaves of God?   The way God accomplished this glorious liberation for us was simply profound and powerful: Since we were born into sin, God freed us from sin’s captivity by including us in His Son’s death so we could be born into life (Romans 6:3-5).  “He who has died has been freed from sin… we have died with Christ (Romans 6:7-8).”  This operation of the cross was like a divine heart transplant.  When Jesus Christ died on the cross, God exchanged our terminally sin-sick heart with His Son’s divine holy heart.  We were once sons of disobedience and children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-2), but now that God has removed our sinful nature and put the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, we have become sons of obedience (Romans 6:6-20; Galatians 4:6; Colossians 2:11).

   Since Christ has set us free from the kingdom of darkness, should we continue to practice sin?  Absolutely not!  “For you were called to be free, my brethren; only do not use your freedom to indulge sinful desires (Galatians 5:13).”  Jesus Christ has set us free from sin for the very purpose that we would practice holiness (sanctification).  “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but to sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:7).”  The Bible says we have been freed from sin and have become enslaved to God (Romans 6:22).  Many Christians think they can continue to willfully practice sin and still receive the benefits of salvation.  Other Christians think that holiness is too strict a standard to keep.  Still other Christians think that spiritual freedom means you can do whatever you please, living lawlessly, and still be covered by the blood of Jesus.  None of these are true.  The apostle Paul said, “Should we sin because we are under grace?  God forbid! (Romans 6:15).”  And the apostle Peter said, “Act as free men and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil but use it as bondslaves for God (1 Peter 2:16).”  Paul also wrote, “Keep yourself free from sin (1 Timothy 5:22).”  Even though we may be under grace,  God has never changed His standard of holiness.  Here is the divine truth: You are either a slave to sin or slave to God.  “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? (Romans 6:16).” Practicing obedience to God is essential because the Bible says “without sanctification no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).”  Unless we walk by faith in this freedom from sin purchased by Christ’s blood, we cannot know   the Lord.  The apostle John taught, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins.  And in Him is no sin.  No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning.  No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him (1 John 3:4-6).”  

   Jesus Christ died on the cross to set us free from the power of sin and death.  If we do not use this priceless freedom to serve God as His bondslaves, then Christ will have died needlessly for us.  If we are not enslaved to God, we cannot be sanctified. And without sanctification, we cannot know God nor can we inherit eternal life (Romans 6:22).

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17  “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”  Galatians 5:1

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really is no gospel at all…  if anyone is preaching to you another gospel… let him be eternally condemned!”  Galatians 1:6 & 9

   The apostle Paul was disturbed when he heard God’s people were turning to a different gospel.  Paul knew that a different gospel would lead them astray from sanctification and devotion to Christ.  This is why Paul was vigilant and fearless to confront those who preached a gospel different than the one he had received from Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:11-12).  Paul called his gospel the message of Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23). This gospel can be expressed as “Christ died for us and included us in His death so He might live in us.” This was the gospel Paul practiced and preached when he testified, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20).” 

   It is essential that we also practice and preach the same gospel of Christ crucified.   We simply will not come into sanctification and a true knowledge of Jesus Christ by any other gospel.  What makes a gospel different than the true gospel?  Whenever anything is added to or taken out of the gospel, it is a false gospel.  For example, if someone teaches that you must be water baptized before you can be saved, this is a false gospel since it has added something to the true gospel.  Water baptism does not save you; it only confirms your salvation in Christ.  It is more difficult, however, to discern a false gospel when something is omitted from the true gospel. For example, the gospel commonly preached today is “Jesus died to forgive you for your sins.”  Of course, this is true, but all of God’s promises and provisions are conditional.  Yet most preachers leave out the fundamental condition  for Christ’s forgiveness of sins to be effective: Christ forgives our sins if we turn away from darkness and walk in the light (1 John 1:5-7). The Bible says that if you sin against God, you must confess your sin to Him (1 John 1:9).  If you want to walk in fellowship with God (and other believers), you must practice walking in the light.  You cannot continue to walk in the darkness (practice sin) and expect to have the benefits of God’s forgiveness and fellowship.  God never intended that Christ’s death on the cross for our forgiveness would be used as an excuse for sin.  This is why Paul said, “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:1-2)   Therefore, this incomplete gospel is false unless it is preached within the context of repentance and turning away from practicing sin.  Without the message of repentance, this gospel gives a false license to sin and a false security.   As a result of this false gospel, many Christians are willfully practicing sin and grievously sharing in the Lord’s Supper in an unrighteous manner.  Tragically, they will be judged along with the rest of the world.  “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving a knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment (Hebrews 10:26-27).”

   Once again, the complete gospel is “Christ died for us and included us in His death so that He might live in us.”  The most devious counterfeit of the gospel conspicuously leaves out this central portion of Christ’s gospel.  To the immature and undiscerning, this omission seems unimportant.  But a crucial centerpiece of the gospel has been left out – our inclusion by faith into Christ’s death on the cross.  Jesus Himself taught that applying the work of the cross in your life is central to discipleship: “Whoever does not carry his own cross… cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27).”  Omitting this essential truth is Satan’s scheme to substitute a seemingly harmless but extremely dangerous counterfeit to the true gospel.  The only way we can overcome Satan and sin is to abide by faith in Christ’s completed work on the cross; otherwise “whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).”  This is the whole gospel: When Christ died, we died with Him.  When Christ was crucified, our sinful nature was crucified with Him.  When Christ was buried, our sinful nature was also buried and removed in Him (Romans 6:3-11). Once again, God’s promises and provisions are conditional.   If we believe and act on the truth that we have died with Christ, He will sovereignly live in us.  If we do not actively identify by faith with Christ’s death in this way, He will not sovereignly live in us.  We cannot just mentally assent to Christ’s inclusionary death and expect to have Christ’s life.  Jesus Christ said if we abide in Him, then He will abide in us (John 15:4).  We must abide (act by faith) on the truth of Christ’s death in order for the power of His resurrection life to be expressed in us.  Death always comes first, then resurrection life (Romans 6:5).  When we were born again, we received Christ’s seed into our heart.  If we stay rooted in Christ by faith so that His death becomes our death by carrying our own cross, His seed will reproduce His life within us and we will stop practicing sin and will intimately know Him.  “No one who is born of God continues to sin because His seed abides in him; and he cannot go on sinning, because he is born of God (1 John 3:9).”

   Whenever anything is added to or taken out of the gospel that undermines God’s intended purpose for His people, it is a different gospel.  Some preach a different gospel (which really is a false gospel) out of ignorance, but others do it because they resist the Holy Spirit and do not want to stop sinning.  Those who preach a false gospel do not abide in Christ and His teaching and do not carry their own cross for His sake.  Since they have “gone beyond” the cross, they do not walk in sanctification and do not know Christ.  “No one who abides in Him keeps sinning; no one who keeps sinning has seen Him or knows Him (1 John 3:6).”  The only way we can know the difference between the true gospel and the false is to walk in the Light as He is in the Light.  Then we will have fellowship with Jesus and His Light will separate the true gospel from the false!

“Anyone who goes beyond and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has the Father and the Son.”  2 John 9

“The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”  Romans 13:12

   We are living in the last days when deep spiritual darkness covers the earth.  The final spiritual conflict of this age is fast approaching and it is time for every believer to put on the armor of light to be ready for that day. “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:11-12).”  God’s armor of light can stop all the enemy’s weapons and protect every true believer in time of danger.  The armor of light contains the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:14-17).  Without this armor, no Christian can hope to defeat the devil’s forces of darkness.  His aim is to deceive and devour weak and vulnerable souls in this final conflict.  However, with God’s armor of light, every Christian can stand in the heat of battle and triumph over the devil.  “And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even when faced with death (Revelation 12:11).”

   In order for God’s armor of light to effectively protect us in battle, two actions are necessary.  The first action required of us is repentance.  Every soldier of Christ must repent from any deeds of darkness.  The Bible warns us, “Do not give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27).” Any Christian who continues to practice sin will have holes in his armor and the enemy will use these openings to snare and defeat him. “Be on the alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking around for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).”  Some Christians think they can practice sin each day but then quickly grab their armor when the spiritual combat gets intense.  But if you have a habit of practicing sin, you will not be ready when the enemy comes upon you.  You will not be able to put on the armor of light to protect you during the time of greatest danger.  You must practice righteousness now so you can wear the armor of light when you need it.  “God is light… if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light… the blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:5-7).”

  The second action required of us is to believe.  Every soldier of Christ must have faith in His Commander Jesus Christ.  It is crucial for us  to believe that God, through Jesus Christ, has already totally defeated the devil.  The Bible says Christ disarmed Satan’s forces of darkness and triumphed over them through the cross (Colossians 2:16).  “So that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery… (Hebrews 2:14-15).”  When Christ died, God included us in Christ’s death so that our sinful nature died with Him and was removed from us (Romans 6:6).  When Christ rose from the dead, God included us in His resurrection so that His Son might live in us (Ephesians 2:4; Colossians 1:27).  Because we no longer have a sinful nature, we are freed from the power of sin and the devil can no longer cause us to sin (Romans 6:7).  “The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).” 

   We must never lose sight of Christ’s triumph on the cross.  “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).”  We were saved by faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and we now overcome by faith in Christ’s victory on the cross.  The cross is the secret to our overcoming.  Christ conquered Satan and sin on the cross.  Through the cross of Christ, we have been crucified to the world and the world has been crucified to us (Galatians 6:14).  We are now seated with Christ in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion (Ephesians 1:20-21; 2:6).  Jesus Christ commands us to stand firm and occupy the spiritual ground of victory He has already conquered for us (Romans 8:37).  Therefore, we do not have to fight to gain victory over sin; instead we fight from an already secure position of victory over sin because of Christ’s victory!

   We are involved in a spiritual battle with the forces of darkness in which the devil is waging an all-out war to capture the hearts and minds of the human race.  “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4).”  Therefore, when we put on the armor of light, we must also put aside all worldly pursuits and pleasures that divide our devotion to Christ.  “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life,  so that he may please his commanding officer (2 Timothy 2:4).”  Through His cross, Jesus has enabled us and expects us to lay aside all activities and associations that compromise us.

   But that is not all.  Jesus died on the cross to deliver each one of us from our own prison of darkness, so that God’s light could shine through us to a world sick with sin.  We were redeemed from Satan’s dominion not merely for ourselves, but for countless others who languish under sin’s power.  Therefore, putting on the armor of light is not an option; it is a necessity.  “The weapons of our warfare are not worldly but divinely powerful to demolish strongholds… we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).”  By putting on the armor of light, we ensure we are ready to hear and carry out Christ our Commander’s orders!

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand firm.”  Ephesians 6:13

“Have you forgotten that all of us, when we were baptized into fellowship with Christ Jesus, were baptized into fellowship with His death?” Romans 6:3

   Jesus bore our sinful nature on His cross but He also said we must bear our own cross.  “Whoever does not bear his own cross and follow Me, cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27).”  Therefore the work of the cross is not just His; it must by faith become ours.  This is how we “work out” our salvation and prove we are His disciples.   “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).”  But how do we bear our own cross?  Some Christians believe they still have a sinful nature, which they must put to death daily through self-suppression, self-discipline and self-denial.  However, this is not what Jesus meant.  He knew our willpower would never be strong enough to overcome the power of sin. He died on the cross for us so that just as we received Him by faith, we might now walk in Him and overcome sin by faith (Colossians 2:6-7).  How did we first receive His Spirit? Was it by self-discipline?  No, it was by faith in Jesus Christ and what He had done on the cross.  How do we now walk in His Spirit and bear our own cross?  Is it by self-denial?  No, once again it is by faith in Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished on the cross (Galatians 3:1-2).

   Bearing our own cross does not mean we now try to crucify our sinful nature.  It is impossible for self to kill self.  If we are born again, we have already died with Christ (Romans 6:8).  Our sinful nature (that sin factory that produced sins) has already been destroyed and done away with (Romans 6:6).  Because our sinful nature has died, we have already been crucified to the world (Galatians 6:14). By faith in God’s Word, we can now count ourselves dead to sin (Romans 6:11).  Therefore, bearing our own cross means believing God’s Word: when Christ died we also died with Him (2 Corinthians 5:14).  Bearing our own cross means we stand firm in the truth that our sinful nature is dead and gone.  When we know we have already been crucified with Christ, we have the ability to no longer act on our own self-initiative.  We can look to Christ who indwells us as the source of our life and direction (Galatians 2:20).  As we persevere by faith in the divine fact that our sinful nature is gone (in spite of what we feel or see), the Holy Spirit will confirm and establish this divine truth in our life until Christ is formed within us (Galatians 4:19; 1 Peter 5:10). 

   Jesus Christ has already done the work for us.  He has already won the struggle against sin. He bore our sinful nature on His cross so that when He died, we died with Him.  However, there is a price to follow Jesus and prove we are His disciples.  The cost is bearing our own cross and losing our soul-life for Christ’s sake.  Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his soul-life will lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake will find it (Matthew 16:24-25).” Our soul-life is our individual personality and encompasses our attitudes, affections and abilities. Our flesh (the Greek is sarx, which means body and soul in this context) will suffer when we turn away from our natural desires and yield to Christ’s Sovereignty.  This is our cooperation with the daily inworking of His death to our soul-life. This is our fellowship in His sufferings (Philippines 3:10).  “Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin so as to live no longer for the lusts of men but for the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-2).”

   Our sinful nature has already been crucified with Christ but now the work of the cross must begin to touch our soulish attitudes and affections.  This process is what the Bible calls “sanctification,” without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).  This is the goal of our faith and the reason why the holy seed of Christ was planted in us – so that we might bear fruit for God.  If this process of sanctification does not take place in our lives, we are bastards and not legitimate sons of God (Hebrews 12:8).  Therefore, bearing our own cross is not an option, it is essential if we are to know Christ and receive our eternal inheritance in His kingdom.  Bearing our own cross is what the apostle Paul called “being conformed to His death (Philippines 3:10).”  As we bear our cross daily, the Holy Spirit will train us to turn away from being governed by our soul-life (Luke 9:26-33; John 12:24-25).  The cross will work in us a godly detachment in spirit from everything of man’s interests and bring us into an attachment to God’s interests.  God uses the inward revelation of His Word and the external pressure of His trials to bring about this transformation.  God made our soul to be good and useful; therefore, the work of the cross will not destroy our soul.  We will still possess our soul and its faculties.  But when the mark of the cross is imprinted on our soul, we will no longer persist in independently asserting ourselves apart from Christ, but we will be yielded and fruitful vessels of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 12:2).

   When we see the cross for what it is – a place of death, our “unconverted” soul-life may wish for self-preservation and we may hesitate to choose the fellowship of the cross.  But glory to God!  Jesus Christ has given us His victory over this desire for self-preservation through the power of His crucifixion!  As we bear our cross by faith each day, we will experience the power of His resurrection life.  “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body (2 Corinthians 4:10).”  We have already died with Jesus Christ to the world.  Let us now fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, and endure “the loss of all things” for the sake of the gospel and the even greater joy of knowing Him. Let us gladly identify with His sufferings so that we might know Jesus Christ and His love.

“I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”  Philippians 3:10

“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to a revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now has been manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.”  Romans 16:25-26 

   Biblical faith is both rooted in and revealed by our obedience to Jesus Christ. This is what the apostle Paul called the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5; 16:26).  God has revealed Himself clearly in His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-3).  Therefore, we demonstrate our faith and please God by believing and obeying His Son.  “And without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).”  Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent (John 6:29).”  The Bible says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36).”

   True faith is inseparably linked with our willingness to be submitted to Christ’s authority.  This is the lesson of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant (see Matthew 8:5-10).  As the commander of one hundred Roman soldiers and under authority himself, he understood that Jesus was under God’s authority, which gave Him the ability to heal his servant.  When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel (Matthew 8:10).”  Just as faith is obedience to Christ, unbelief is disobedience and lawlessness (Hebrews 3:12-19).  If we say we have faith but practice lawlessness, how can that faith save us?  Faith without obedience is worthless and dead (James 2:14-26).  Jesus said, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say (Luke 6:46)?”  The Bible says we cannot claim to know Christ and live lawlessly (1 John 3:4-9).  Although Jesus died for the whole world, only those who obey Him will be saved (Hebrews 5:9). True obedience of faith does not produce a man-made morality. Even non-Christians can seemingly have “good” morals and “good” works. Professing Christians can practice religious, moral principles and still be lawless in their heart.  What is lawlessness?  If we habitually do not hear and obey Jesus’ voice, we are lawless and not living under His authority.  Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice… and they follow Me (John 10:27).”  Jesus Himself showed us the obedience of faith by doing nothing on His own initiative unless the Father told Him (John 5:19, 8:28; 12:49).  Jesus said you cannot know Him unless you obey Him and only those who know Him will enter His kingdom (Matthew 7:21-23).

   How can we possibly live a life of continual obedience to Jesus Christ?  As anyone who has honestly tried can testify, we cannot live such a sanctified life in our own ability.  If we could live such a devoted life through our own efforts, Jesus did not need to die on the cross for us.  But God intended that the high standard of holiness and obedience he commanded in the Old Testament would be “a tutor to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24).” Then, to make such daily obedience possible, God included us in Christ’s death on the cross, so that our sinful nature would be crucified, removed and buried forever (Romans 6:3-8).  As the apostle Paul testified, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God  (Galatians 2:20).”  Jesus Christ died in our place and He now wants to live in our place.  If we believe that our sinful nature is dead and gone, then Christ can begin to live through us.  If we do not know our sinful nature has died with Christ on the cross, we will go on living as if we are still enslaved to sin and in charge of our own life.  However, a dead man no longer has any control over his life.  He has lost the ability to decide what he wants and where he goes.  If we do not know that we no longer have a sinful nature, we can try as hard as humanly possible to overcome besetting sins but we will always fail since we can only overcome sin by faith in the truth alone (Romans 7:14-25).

   Faith comes from hearing and obeying the word of Christ (John 12:47-48; Romans 10:17).  Jesus said, “If you continue in My word… you will know the truth and the truth will set you free…   if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:32, 36).”  God set us free from the power of sin when our sinful nature died with Christ on the cross (Romans 6:7).  This is God’s word of freedom to us but if we do not believe it and act on it, we will never experience its transforming power.  Many Christians mistakenly think they are still wretched and held captive by a sinful nature (Romans 7:18-24).  The Word of God is divinely powerful but it can only effectively work in you if you believe it (1 Thessalonians 2:13).  The Bible says of those who do not believe: “The word they heard did not profit them because it was not united by faith in those who heard (Hebrews 4:2).” How can Jesus Christ live through us if we do not believe and act on the truth that His death freed us from sin’s power?

   “The righteous shall live by faith” means we believe and live based on what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross: we believe Christ died for us; we also believe our sinful nature died with Christ so He might live through us.  This is the foundation of enduring faith that results in our salvation and sanctification (Matthew 24:13; Hebrews 3:14).  “For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.  But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.  But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul (Hebrews 10:37-39).”  Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)?”  When Christ returns, will He find us living in obedience under His authority by acting on the truth of His cross?

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 7:21-23

“Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”  Isaiah 40:31

   The heart of the New Covenant is the divine exchange God provided for us by the crucifixion of His only Son, Jesus Christ.  The Book of Isaiah is sometimes called the gospel of the Old Covenant because it prophetically heralds Christ’s coming and sacrificial death on our behalf.  This is why Isaiah is the most quoted Old Testament prophet in the New Testament.  In the verse above, Isaiah prophetically and poetically portrays Christ’s divine exchange.  The Hebrew word for wait is qavah whose root meaning is “braided together” and the Hebrew word for renew is chalaph whose root meaning is “exchange.” In other words, those who are spiritually braided together with the Lord will have their natural strength exchanged for God’s strength. The prophet Ezekiel also foretold of this divine exchange of the New Covenant when he declared God would replace our old sin-hardened heart with His new spiritual heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

   After His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus Christ personally revealed this divine exchange to the apostle Paul (Galatians 1:11-16; 2:20).  As a result, this was the gospel Paul proclaimed: “God made Christ who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).  What exactly is this divine exchange?  By His death on the cross, Christ exchanged our unholy nature with His holy nature and reconciled us to God (Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 1:21-22;  1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 5:11-12).  Thus by the sacrifice of His Son, God translated us from our Adamic sinful nature into Christ’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).  Therefore, when we receive Jesus as our Lord and are born again by God’s Spirit (John 3:3-8); our sinful nature is crucified and removed (Romans 6:6; Colossians 2:11) and we become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15).  The Son of God now lives in us (Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 13:5; Galatians 1:16; 2:20; and Colossians 1:27).

   Therefore, the Christian life isn’t a changed life; it’s an exchanged life. There is a great difference.  If my old car is in need of repair, I could change its carburetor.  If it breaks down again, I could try changing its transmission.  If it fails again, I could keep changing more parts and hope it will work.  Or, I could decide my old car is beyond repair and exchange it for a brand new car.  This is similar to the divine exchange God accomplished in us.  He knew our old man was beyond repair and our sinful nature could not be changed, fixed or improved.  Therefore God completely disposed of our old sin nature and exchanged it for Christ’s divine nature.  “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).” 

   The divine exchange is like a spiritual grafting.  We were once unholy branches but now we have been grafted into Christ – God’s holy root (Romans 11:16-21).  Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5).”  When we know we have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:5), we can cease from our works and enter into His spiritual rest (Hebrews 4:10).  If we abide in the power of Christ’s crucifixion, then the power of His resurrection life will certainly abide in us.  Since we no longer live but Christ now lives in us (Galatians 2:20), we can trust Christ to bear His fruit in us (Romans 7:4).

   Hudson Taylor, pioneer missionary to China, wrote of this divine exchange, “The Lord Jesus tells me I am a branch.  I am part of Him and I have just to believe and act upon it.  I have seen it long enough in the Bible but I believe it now as a living reality.  In a word, ‘whereas once I was blind, now I see.’  I am dead and buried with Christ – aye, and risen too and ascended; and now Christ lives in me.  I now believe I am dead to sin.  God reckons me so and tells me to reckon myself so.  Oh, the joy of seeing this truth: I pray that the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened, that you may know and enjoy the riches freely given us in Christ.”

   The divine exchange is like a spiritual heart transplant.  When Jesus died on the cross, God exchanged our terminally sin-sick heart with His Son’s divine heart and saved us from the power of sin and certain doom.  Of course, Jesus had to willingly die for us so we could receive this transplant.  Thus God included us in His Son’s death so that His resurrected Son might live in us.  The Bible also describes this divine surgery in terms of spiritual circumcision.  “In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the sinful nature by the circumcision of Christ… When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ (Colossians 2:11-13).”

   Another Scripture that sums up this divine transaction is, “For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Our new life is hidden with Christ because the divine operation that was done as a result of Christ’s death on the cross was spiritual not physical. In other words, Christ’s divine exchange occurred in our spirit not our body.  Since it was spiritual, it is invisible to the human eye. Although a miraculous, inward transformation has taken place in our spirit, who we are in Christ is not yet fully visible.  “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you will be revealed with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4).”  This is the power of the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”  Galatians 2:20

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.  And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast… and the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.  ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.  Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew 22:1-13 

   This parable is really a commentary on Christ’s own wedding to His bride at the end of this age.  There is one thing certain about this wedding: God will not allow anyone to participate in His Son’s marriage unless they are wearing the right wedding clothes.  Now let us take a look at Christ’s heavenly wedding from the perspective of the Book of Revelation.  “I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder shouting, ‘Hallelujah!  For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.  It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.’  Then he said to me, ‘Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9).’”  Again, the Bible is clear you cannot participate in Christ’s wedding feast unless you have the right wedding clothes.  The Bible also says these wedding clothes signify our sanctified works done in faith. 

    In these last days, many professing Christians are not wearing these wedding garments.  They think they are spiritually dressed to meet Christ when they are actually stark naked.  Jesus said, “You do not know that you are naked.  Buy from Me white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed (Revelation 3:17-18).” It is important to note here that Jesus was speaking to those in the church and not to unbelievers.  Here Jesus declared we must buy our own wedding clothes.  For two thousand years, God has never changed the price that the bride of Christ must pay for her wedding clothes.  The cost is always the same – the price is our soul-life.  Jesus said,  “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his soul–life will lose it, but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake and the gospel’s will find it (Mark 8:34-35).”

   Therefore, we can only buy our wedding clothes if we pay for them with our soul-life.  Nothing else will suffice.  What does it mean to lose our soul-life for Christ’s sake?  God has made us spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).  When we were born again, our sinful nature died and our regenerated spirit became made one with Christ’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17).  Our soul, however, is our individual personality – our will, intellect and natural temperament.  Because we retain free will, our soul does not automatically come under Christ’s Sovereignty.  However, once we know that we have already died with Christ, we are capable of submitting our whole being to Christ’s authority so that God can transform and restore our soul.  God does not want to suppress or destroy our soul.  He made the human soul and meant it to be a useful instrument, just like our body. But now that we are in Christ, the important question is this: Will we live according to the power and desire of God’s Spirit within us or will we quench the Spirit and live according to the strength of our soul and our natural desires?

   Losing our soul-life means we give up our whole being completely to Christ’s Sovereignty.  It means we exchange our own attitudes, affections and abilities for Christ’s attitudes, affections and abilities.  This is what it means to walk in sanctification.  “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God… and 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… (Romans 12:2).”  This is what Paul meant when he exhorted believers to “be made new in the attitude of your minds… and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (Ephesians 4:23; 2 Corinthians 10:5).”

   Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a pearl of great price.  He said when a man found such a pearl, he sold all he had to buy it (Matthew 13:46).  Therefore, we prove we are Christ’s disciples by yielding ourselves by faith to Christ’s Sovereignty so that His thoughts become our thoughts and His actions become our actions.  Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate… his own soul-life, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26).”  The issue is one of ownership.  Will we continue to be enslaved to our soul’s natural desires, or will we be enslaved to God in sanctification?  Every Christian who lays down their soul-life to Christ will overcome sin, the world and the devil.  Everyone who overcomes will be dressed in wedding clothes ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb.  Jesus Christ said, “You have a few people… who have not soiled their clothes.  They will walk with Me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.  He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.  I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before My Father (Revelation 3:4-5).”

  Losing our soul-life for Christ’s sake is only possible if we believe that our sinful nature has already died and been removed by Christ’s death on the cross.  Why?  Because when God included us in His Son’s death in this way, He made it possible for us to walk in sanctification by faith and wear wedding clothes as the bride of Christ.  Tragically, many professing Christians are not ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb.  If they do not buy their wedding clothes soon, they will be speechless when God throws them out of His Son’s wedding, for they will have proven themselves unworthy and shamefully unclothed.

“Behold, I come like a thief!  Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”  Revelation 16:15

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him.  For the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”  Revelation 19:6-7

   In these last days, God is preparing a bride for His Son (Revelation 21:2).  Who is this bride?   The image of the bride begins in the Old Testament with Eve who is a type of the church (Genesis 2:18-24; Ephesians 5:22-32).  In the New Testament, John the Baptist calls Jesus Christ the bridegroom and His disciples the bride (John 3:29).  Later, Jesus also refers to Himself as the bridegroom in relation to His disciples (Luke 5:34-35).  For just as God created Eve out of Adam’s body, God created the church out of Christ‘s body (Ephesians 5:30).  For when Christ willingly gave up His body and died on the cross for us, God performed a divine heart transplant and exchanged our sinful heart with His Son’s divine heart (Romans 6:3-11).  Just as there was a betrothal period in Biblical times between the bride and bridegroom until their wedding ceremony, so the body of Christ is now betrothed to Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2).  Through water baptism, new believers declare their betrothal to their bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and their union with His death, burial and resurrection.  According to Biblical custom, this betrothal is a binding commitment or covenant that can only be broken by infidelity.  And by Biblical tradition, the bride remains veiled until her marriage.  After the second coming of Christ, the bride will be revealed, the wedding feast will take place and the eternal union of the Lamb of God and His bride will be consummated.

   However before this wedding can take place, the bride must make herself ready (Revelation 19:7; 21:2).  Jesus Christ made a number of promises to the seven churches in Revelation (Chapters 2-3). These promises were not only for those early churches, they are for the church today.  Like all of God’s promises, these too are conditional upon the obedience of our faith.  Christ said those who by faith obey His Spirit and overcome Satan would inherit His promises. He promised those who overcome would have their names written in the Book of Life and be ready for their marriage and eternal union with Him (Revelation 2:26; 3:5 & 21).  Although the entire nation of Israel was called to be God’s chosen people, most were unfaithful to Him.  When that occurred, God no longer called them His bride; He called them a harlot (Isaiah 1:21).  But God’s covenant promises were still fulfilled through His remnant of survivors or overcomers (Isaiah 37:31-32).  Many Christians mistakenly think that because of God’s grace they can love the world and have Jesus too.  They are deceived (see Matthew 6:24; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15).  Christ will not marry a harlot.  God’s covenant promises to the church will only be fulfilled through His faithful bride of overcomers (Revelation 21:7).  

   How can we become Christ’s overcoming bride?  It is not enough for us to zealously desire to be His bride. It is impossible for us to overcome Satan and sin by our own willpower and natural strength and zeal.  If overcoming depended on us, we would be defeated.  “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).”  The Bible says we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11).  The blood speaks of the triumphant work that Christ has accomplished by His crucifixion. On the cross, Jesus destroyed Satan’s power over God’s elect (Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8).   By His death, Jesus redeemed us from both the penalty of sin and the power of sin. The secret to overcoming is knowing we have died in Christ.  When Christ died, our sinful nature died with Him and was buried (removed) with Him (Romans 6:4-6).  Christ lives in us! (Colossians 1:27).  We are now raised with Christ and seated with Him in victory (Ephesians 2:4-6).  Therefore, the power of Christ’s blood shed on the cross silences all of Satan’s accusations and lies.  The blood of Christ nullifies Satan’s power to accuse us of sin; it also nullifies his power to arouse us to sin.

   The bride of Christ who crushes Satan wears the full armor of God under her wedding dress (Ephesians 6:10-17).  When Satan accuses Christ’s bride of failing God (Revelation 12:10), she stops his lies with the shield of faith and proclaims there is no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1).  When Satan tempts Christ’s bride to love her soul-life (John 12:25), she uses the sword of the Spirit to make him flee and proclaims she is dead to the world through the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:24).  The bride who overcomes Satan knows she has died with Christ and is full of the Spirit and testimony of Jesus, her bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13).  This is the bride who conquers Satan by the word of her testimony and by the blood of the Lamb and she does not love her life even when faced with death (Revelation 12:11).  “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.  For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before God day and night, has been hurled down (Revelation 12:10).”

   On His wedding day, Jesus will unveil His bride clothed in white wedding clothes without stain or blemish – holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:27).  These wedding clothes are the righteous acts that spring from our faith in Jesus Christ and His victory on the cross (Revelation 19:8).  This is the bride who has proven herself worthy by her undying love and faith in Jesus Christ and His cross.  When Jesus Christ returns and is revealed, this is the bride who will be revealed with Him  in glory (Colossians 3:4).  This is the glorious bride of Christ who will be joined in heavenly marriage and eternal union to her true love and Lord, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

 “In that day the Lord of hosts will be a beautiful crown and a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people… and as the bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.” Isaiah 28:5; 62:5   “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’  He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’”  Revelation 22:17 & 20

“I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I may present you as a pure virgin.  But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”  2 Corinthians 11:2-3

   Churchianity is the devil’s counterfeit of true Christianity.   Satan created Churchianity to keep undiscerning believers blinded and enslaved to darkness and sin.  What is Churchianity and how is it different from Christianity?  Churchianity is the carnal, soulish mindset that for centuries has produced a false church. The basis of Churchianity is the lawlessness that comes from man relying on his own righteousness and works; whereas the foundation of Christianity is the righteousness that comes only from faith in Christ and His completed work on the cross.  Although Churchianity and Christianity can appear the same outwardly, there is one great difference – only Christianity can produce Christ’s life.

   In Christianity, the true church is Holy Spirit-led and Christ-centered; in Churchianity, the false church is clergy-dominated and program-centered.  In Christianity, Christ is the head of the true church; in Churchianity, man is the head of the false church.  In Christianity, you become a member of God’s church by committing your life to Christ; in Churchianity, you become a member of the false church by committing your life to the organization.  In Christianity, your life will be conformed to the character of Christ; in Churchianity, your life will be conformed to the culture of the false church.  In Christianity, the true church functions as every member does the work of the ministry; in Churchianity, the false church pays a “professional” to do the work of the ministry.   In Christianity, the true church acts according to Christ’s initiative and power; in Churchianity, the false church acts according to man’s plans and resources.  In Christianity, the true church depends on the Holy Spirit to sustain it, since without the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ would grow weak and die; in Churchianity, the false church depends on money to maintain it, since without money, the institution would falter and collapse. In Christianity, the true church is bound together by a love for God; in Churchianity, the false church is bound together by a love for itself. In Christianity, the true church loses its soul-life for the love of Christ; in Churchianity, the false church fulfills its soul-life for the love of this world. In Christianity, the true church is not of this world and is hated by this world; in Churchianity, the false church is of this world and is loved by this world.  In Christianity, the true church practices obedience to Christ; in Churchianity, the false church practices lawlessness.  Churchianity is a devilish imposter masquerading as Christianity.  Churchianity can only yield the perishable fruit that man in his natural ability can produce instead of the eternal harvest that Christ will sovereignly reap through His bride.  Ultimately, the fruit of Churchianity is a soulish imitation of Christianity without Christ’s sovereignty and power. Churchianity is a perverted and destructive witness of Christ.  The outcome of Churchianity is a harlot in love with herself and the world but not in love with Jesus.

   Churchianity is a godless yoke that no true believer in Christ should ever bear.  The devil’s principal strategy is to distract and deceive Christians from fixing their eyes on Jesus Christ and His work on the cross.  Anything that takes the place of Christ accomplishes this diabolical aim.  One of the enemy’s most insidious ploys  has been to use Churchianity as the ultimate trap for sincere Christians. Churchianity keeps you earthly-minded, self-absorbed and spiritually asleep.  As long as the devil can continue to herd unsuspecting new sheep into Churchianity, he has them penned up, powerless, and ready for the spiritual slaughterhouse.  This is why it is crucial for God’s true shepherds to warn God’s people of the grave danger of Churchianity.  Churchianity is a deadly virus that you cannot outrun by simply leaving the institutional church for a house church.  There is only one antidote for Churchianity – faith in the cross of Christ.  You cannot reform Churchianity by just trying to start a church modeled after the New Testament. All attempts to reform Churchianity only deal with the symptoms, not the root of the problem.  We are incapable of reforming Churchianity, which is born out of man’s sinful nature and unsubmitted soul.  God knew man was beyond reforming.  Therefore, God’s way was not to reform our sinful nature but to replace it with Christ’s nature.  God’s righteous verdict for man’s sinful nature has always been execution, not reformation.  This is why Jesus Christ had to die on the cross for us and this is why we had to be crucified with Him so that He might sovereignly live through us, both individually and corporately.  The chains of Churchianity will only be broken off your soul when you are exhausted from its oppressive yoke and cry out to God for deliverance.  Then God will set you free by giving you a divine revelation of Christ and His redemptive work on the cross, by which He birthed His new creation, the body of Christ.  When you believe and act on the truth that you have died with Christ and your sinful nature has been crucified and buried (removed) in Christ, you will be freed from the power of sin and the bewitching snare of Churchianity.

   Jesus Christ died in our place and He now wants to sovereignly live in our place.  Unless we see that Jesus Christ and the power of His cross is far greater and more precious and glorious than the lifeless religion of Churchianity, we will never become His overcoming bride.   May God deliver His true church, the bride of Christ, from the godless yoke of Churchianity and set her free by faith in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city…  Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem.  Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”  Isaiah 52:1-2