Identity crisis!

This is something I saw in an email:

A national news network recently reported on a man who was released from prison after serving time for a crime he didn't commit. A case of mistaken identity had stolen many of his best years. And unless you understand who you are before God, Satan will sentence you to a life of worthlessness, fear and manipulation. Identifying somebody means having the ability to recognize and say exactly who they are; so when you identify with what people say you are versus what God says, you're setting yourself up for problems. Jesus identified only with God's opinion. "I know where I came from and where I am going." People said terrible things about Jesus, yet the Bible says, "The stone...the builders rejected has become the...cornerstone" (Ps 118:22 NKJV). Sometimes we're so busy telling people what to do, that we neglect to tell them who they are. Knowing who you are in Christ gives you the confidence to hold your head high! Paul says, "In [Christ] you have been made complete" (Col 2:10 NAS). "Complete!" That means you lack nothing! Once you accept that, you stop feeling like you constantly fall short. When you've money in the bank and you need to withdraw it, you don't feel pressured to. That's because you know it's there with your name on it, right? You don't have to struggle to be right with people when you know you're right with God. He loves you and has a plan for you; never lose sight of that! Instead of focusing on people, begin looking to "Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb 12:2), because you already have His approval!

Why am I tempted to smash that alarm clock in to pieces?

Here is something I read on a blog:

“When I get up in the morning, one of my first thoughts is usually along the lines of how good that alarm clock would look when smashed into a million pieces.”

Well, I can very well relate to that. Every morning “I” have a desire to go to work but my body doesn’t want to. It wants to sleep more. Then I suddenly remember one proverb which deals this issue

“Laziness casts into a deep sleep,
And an idle man will suffer hunger.” (Proverbs 19:15)

The thoughts of hunger scares me and I manage to get up and get ready to go to work. This happens quite often in my life.

Remember something Paul said in Romans?

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. – Romans 7:15

Sometimes I don’t understand why I don’t want to get up in the morning though I want to. I don’t understand why I do the very thing I don’t want to do.
What is the problem? Something wrong with me?

Well, if I am a born-again Christian and the Spirit of God living in me there shouldn’t be anything wrong with me. If there is anything wrong with me, the Spirit of God can’t live in me anyways.
So ever before the Spirit came to live in me He did the sterilization through the blood of Christ on the Cross. (It is like this- we sterilize the jar before we put the peaches in to preserve). So then, if we are fully sterilized, perfected and now the Spirit lives in us, then why do we act like Romans 7:15?

Well, let’s read on…

18 For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it…

One of the key verse here is - 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it…

It is not "I" (spirit, new creature, new me in Christ) who is redeemed, perfected, forgiven, completed doing it. But the flesh (unredeemed portion of my being) does it.

We often times forget that only our spirit has been redeemed not our mind and body. Our spirit is secured in the hands of God, our body is aging and soon will die and about our mind the Bible is encouraging to renew it with the Word of God on a continuous basis (Romans 12:2).

Another key verse is - I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

If we put some logic here, it makes sense. If 'I' can carry out the desire to do what is good, then what is the purpose of Christ (in the person of Holy Spirit) lives in me?

Here is the answer for these questions:

25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

He can and will carry it out. We better not try to do His work! We will terribly fail. All we need to do is abide in the vine and let His life flow through us!

I can, but I don’t want to…

If you are to tell a legalistic person about the Grace of God and the freedom in Christ here is the question you may expect from them:

Are you saying I can live anyway I want?

Well, the answer is ‘Yes’.

This is what Apostle Paul says about this issue:

"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive (but not all things edify – NASB). - 1 Corinthians 10:23

"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. - 1 Corinthians 6:12

No matter how a person behaves or what he does, God accepts Him unconditionally in Christ. Nothing will separate him from the love of God. (Romans 8:38-40)

Everything is permissible for a child of God, but the question prompted by Holy Spirit to our mind is this, is it profitable? Is it constructive?

Does it edify? Will it cause problem to my relationships? Will it cause harm to my body? Will it cause harm to Christ’s body? Will it master my mind? Will it produce addiction? Will it cause damage to someone else?

The reason why Paul said “Everything is permissible” can be found in 1 Corinthians 15:56.

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

Sin gets its power from the law. So, do we want it? As long as we are operating under the law, we are under the power of sin.

Law can bring only one type of righteousness which is self-righteousness. That's what Pharisees and Sadducee's had.That is not what we need; we need Christ-righteousness, which Christ alone gives us free as a gift. That is the only righteousness acceptable to God. Thats the righteousness we can stand firm on. It's nothing about "me" or my doing or my obedience, it's ALL about Him, and what He did on the cross.

When we are faced with a question, “Can I do this?” we know the answer is ‘Yes’ but listen to the voice of the Spirit which is in you... but, ‘Do you want to?’, ‘Is it profitable?’

Unlearning

I have read/heard that growing in the knowledge of Lord Jesus is a process of “unlearning”, unlearning of religion.
It is about forgetting and getting rid of the bondage of religion.

Saying a specific prayer before each meal also can become legalistic. Though we don’t feel like praying before a meal, we may be emotionally forced to pray because of the “learned” behavior or guilt.
In the book “Dinner with a perfect stranger”, there is a scene where the stranger (Jesus) prays for food as “Father, Thank you for this food, bless this. Amen”. The invitee looked at Jesus surprised and asked, “Is that it?” as he expected a long prayer. So Jesus asked “Yes, do you have anything else?”

As Christians we have a lot of learned spiritual behavior. Sometimes our worship is limited to “two songs + prayer” when the bible says presenting our bodies as living sacrifice is the act of spiritual worship (Romans 12:1-2). This has to be the life style of a Christian. But we limit it to “two songs + prayer” at the end of the day. Its not necessarily our fault, the Christendom taught us that. The “church” taught us that worship is for Sundays and it is about lifting hands up and singing with closed eyes, spitting out many words and repetitions. Is God concerned about our words or our heart?

Is it possible to unlearn such behaviors over night? Not really. We have seen Jesus deliberately going against religion in many occasions. I believe there was a purpose for that. We can learn something from it.
Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves that “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” – Gal 5:1.

What is this freedom? It is the freedom in depending on the Spirit of the living God, rather than depending on the religion. There is freedom in that dependability!
As we grow in the grace of God, it becomes more and more real and we start shedding off the religion. While we are growing, let’s keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery of religion. Religion kills, but Jesus gives life!