Just As If I Had Never Sinned

Three years ago I was in prayer with the Lord agonizing over a decision, knowing that if I was to follow through on it, it would sever all relationships with some of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  Sometimes when agonizing I talk too much and so to quieten me or grab my attention God has to break in.  This particular morning was one of those, He broke in saying, “My kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  Then later in my Bible reading for that day there it was again in full. “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” Romans 14:17.

I’m always grateful when the Lord repeats Himself as He did that morning.  As I sat before Him meditating on that Scripture I got the strongest of impressions that the Lord was saying far too many of His people do not daily experience His righteousness, peace and joy within them because of unfamiliarity with the voice and ministry of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, they’re not sufficiently acquainted or conversant enough with the word of God to discern the Holy Spirit on the level that our Lord would love them to be on.

Receiving this Scripture in the manner that I did confirmed what I believed God had impressed upon me four months earlier, “I want you to express and speak of My freedom and liberty because so very few of My people have it.” Then He said, “But for you to express it and speak of it, you have to continue to release yourself from the thoughts and opinions of others.”  I didn’t really have a problem accepting this current word as from God given that He had spoken to me about it.  See my post: Don’t Seek The Approval Of Man.  It would be nice to have both man’s and God’s approval but if it means my loss of righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty in the Holy Spirit, then no thank you.

Then just recently, a blogging friend in her communications with me has been speaking of, the simplicity that is in Christ 2 Corinthians 11:3.  Among its meanings the word ‘simplicity’ means: ‘bountifulness’ ‘liberal’ ‘singleness.’  How easy it is for Satan to draw us away from this truth by seeking to corrupt our mind and fill it with religious additions.  And should we allow this to happen, seeking the approval of others naturally follows.  Why?  Well, if we have embraced these additions to the gospel of Christ, then in all probability we’ve embraced them in the church through conditioning.

It is less difficult to discern the voice and ministry of the Holy Spirit if we embrace only what’s revealed in the Scriptures.  I love the words of the late commentator, scholar, and theologian, Merrill Unger who said, “the gospel is ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (plus no other conditions!) and you will be saved.'”  Unger said that demonic perversions are introduced the moment any other conditions whatsoever are introduced.  I am saying that it is the adding of “other conditions” that cuts us off from the Holy Spirit.  He will not have any part of that deal regardless of who says what.  No wonder there’s such a lack of righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty in too many of God’s people.

The word ‘believe’ means: ‘to entrust one’s well-being to Christ’ and when we do so that now means we are also justified in Christ Romans 3:24; Galatians 2:16 and to be ‘justified’ in Christ means: ‘to be just’ ‘innocent’ ‘free’ ‘righteous.’  Once again this is not difficult for us to grasp through the voice and ministry of the Holy Spirit, but next to impossible to grasp if we embrace religious additions to it.  It’s common in the church to speak of a Christ-one as justified, “just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned.”  It’s true too.  That is how God sees us, justified in Christ as a result of trusting in the Lord and His finished work at the cross … the washing away of all our sin by His blood – nothing more, nothing less.

Just as if I had never sinned.  For far too many years I sat in a fellowship where this beautiful truth was (covertly) sneered upon.  Why?  Because to embrace the simplicity of it meant they would be obligated to turn from the doctrines they had added to it, then repent, then cut themselves and their people loose and start again.  That’s very difficult to do, especially when one believes they have the mind of the Holy Spirit in the first place.  The test in any church is; how much evidence is there of righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty in the Holy Spirit?  If there’s little to no evidence then my advice is get out.

To doubt the truth that we are justified in Christ and His finished work on the cross makes a liar of God.  Some people are shocked, others become annoyed when told this, but what is the alternative?  The moment we turn to the Lord Jesus for the salvation of our being we are no longer in Adam we are in Christ.  That’s what New Testament Romans 5:12-21 is all about.  The Holy Spirit makes it very clear to us that God is not schizophrenic … He’s not “Yes” one moment then “No” another moment.  All God’s promises are “Yes” in Christ 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 and the more we declare Amen to them over our lives the greater our righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty in the Holy Spirit becomes.

Imagine yourself having been imprisoned for a few years.  The moment you are released you are free.  You may not believe you’re free, you may not feel you are free but unless you physically put yourself back behind that wall, you are free.  Wishing, thinking, feeling or dreaming otherwise is an illusion – you’re free – end of story. That’s what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about too – end of story.  We were once in Satan’s prison, having no hope and without God in the world … but Christ fixed all that Ephesians 2:12-13. If you hold on to this truth you will without a doubt know the voice and ministry of the Holy Spirit to you because He’ll confirm His every word.

Then when someone comes along and expresses his/her, “Yes, but…..” to you, you will very quickly pick up on what spirit you’re up against.  Although there are myriads of demons in the church as well as out of it … there are really only three to concern yourself with – the unholy trinity of spirits; religion, politics and control.  They hunt in packs, so if you deal with them in Jesus’ name the Holy Spirit will back your every command and at the same time fill you with His righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty.  But it will also mean that He will remove you from that group so don’t hang around believing others will follow your lead … they usually don’t because the approval of others means too much to them.  Bless them and walk away.

As Christ-ones, we need to also let it sink deep within that once we turn to the Lord Jesus and endeavor to walk His path we are for all eternity stamped with the Holy Spirit’s seal Ephesians 4:30. We don’t always get it right.  We muck up often, big-time … and we do grieve the Holy Spirit.  But nevertheless, we are, “sealed for the day of redemption” so all we have to do here is acknowledge the Spirit’s conviction, repent of the sin and move on in the Lord embracing once again His righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty.  Don’t allow guilt and condemnation to hang around because all that will do is have you grieving the Holy Spirit once again.

Too many of God’s people are forfeiting their righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty in the Holy Spirit because they allow Satan the devil to spiritually exhaust them.  He’s forever seeking to act as though he’s the Holy Spirit in our lives and unless we stick with the simplicity that’s in Christ, he makes it ever so much harder to discern whose voice we’re yielding to.  How do I know this?  I know it by lots of experience … too much experience and all of it because I failed to embrace what I’m writing about on this post.  Added to this, we must not wallow in sorrow for our sin.  It has been said we cannot answer our own sin with our own sorrow.  That’s what religious people do, not Christ-ones.

Godly sorrow?  Yes, certainly … but once it’s been confessed we are to let it go.  God forgets, so must we Hebrews 8:12; 10:17.  There are many in the church who cannot come to terms with the truth of those two Scriptures and therefore tend to look upon the righteous, peaceful, joyful, free and liberated ones as less holy.  So my encouragement to you is to settle it once and for all … you may never be holy in the eyes of your peers but you are holy in the eyes of God.  So knowing that you have the approval of God, never under any circumstances exchange it for the approval of those peers.  If you do you’ll put yourself back in Satan’s prison by default.

Somebody says, “Yes, but there’s more required of us from God than simply knowing that our sins have been forgiven.  What about the on-going sanctification process now that we’re in the Lord?  We’re called to holiness, don’t forget.”  Here’s my, “Yes, but …”  Who is going to bring this about?  Is it going to be you?  Is it going to be the ones whose approval you’re seeking?  Is it going to come about because you’ve embraced someone’s doctrinal additions?  Or are you going to allow the Holy Spirit to deliver you from those corruptions and get you back to resting in the simplicity that is in Christ ?  If you choose the latter you’re going to experience true righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty in the Holy Spirit and it will blow your mind!

Some years ago, as a result of embracing corrupted additional doctrines that took away from the simplicity that is in Christ, I lost my true righteousness, peace, joy, freedom and liberty in the Holy Spirit.  Then one day I began to question those doctrines and later still I renounced and rejected every one of them.  When I did so, the Holy Spirit’s voice and ministry began to become so much clearer, meaningful and powerful to me.  This is the will of God for all His Christ-ones.  If your heart is one that pleads after God and you are continually protesting against all evil, your “efforts” are acceptable to God, because it is the Holy Spirit Himself working in you. “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance…..” Ephesians 1:13-14.