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Friday, June 27,
2008
Cease
and Desist
Williams New Testament translation
of Romans 7:1-6
1. Do you not know, brothers
-- for I speak to those who are acquainted with the law -- that the law can
press its claim over a man only so long as he lives? 2. For a married woman
is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she
is freed from the marriage bond. 3. So if she marries another man while her
husband is living, she is called an adulteress, but if he dies, she is free
from that marriage bond, so that she will not be an adulteress though later
married to another man. 4. So, my brothers, you too in the body of Christ
have ended your relation to the law, so that you may be married to another
husband, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear
fruit for God. 5. For when we were living in accordance with our lower
nature, the sinful passions that were aroused by the law were operating in
the parts of our bodies to make us bear fruit that leads to death. 6. But
now we have been freed from our relation to the law; we have ended our
relation to that by which we once were held in bonds, so that we may serve
in a new spiritual way and not in the old literalistic way.
A cease and desist order has
been issued from heaven so all of God’s people could walk in a newness of
life and not according to the old literal, unrealistic way man thinks they
can please God. Now the question is, ‘how many are willing to heed to the
call of God and worship Him in Spirit and in truth’? In order to move
forward in your walk you have to be facing forward, operating in the now
and not in the has been. There is a new law of faith that was established
and instituted on behalf of God’s people which is apart from the works of
the old law. So only those that have separated themselves from these dead
rituals will be able to walk in a newness of life; while others are walking
blindly in the realm of the flesh seeking something alive amongst the dead.
What happens when people don’t give heed to the cease and desist order our
Lord gave to His people concerning the old law and the things of it?
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto
him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit
for the kingdom of God. (KJV)
When you entered the realm of
the Spirit you entered a new realm of faith, and those that look back to
their old thoughts or ways are basically declared unfit and not ready to
serve our Lord. With all the Lord had His people write for our benefit
concerning the law and the things of it, why are so many still looking
behind and not pressing forward in their pursuit of the spiritual? When the
Lord issued a cease and desist order concerning these dead things it was
done for our benefit and liberty so that we could walk in a deeper more intimate
relationship with our Lord. By adding works of the law into the mix it’s
like trying to combine oil and water which just doesn’t gel together
because it was never intended to. By trying to mix the old with the new you
will get the same results as well.
Hebrews 10:38-39 Now the just
shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no
pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition;
but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (KJV)
Now, right this moment, those
that seek justification will only find it by faith, hearing the words of
Christ that bring Spirit and life to the believer, that’s it, that simple,
nothing else. A simple belief in the good work Jesus Christ has begun in
you and desires to continue to do if you will only be willing and obedient
to the simplicity of Christ and not some old dead complex carnal laws. Many
people draw back without being aware of it by reverting back to the law and
its rituals, which now adds works to the equation instead of a simple faith
in Christ. It’s like mapping out a journey and driving all day only to find
out you were going in circles ending up right back where you started.
Hebrews 3:12-15 Take heed,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in
departing from the living God. (13) But exhort one another daily, while it
is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin. (14) For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of
our confidence stedfast unto the end; (15) While it is said, To day if ye
will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. (KJV)
Take heed to what is being
said, the word clearly tells us that whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Where is your confidence today, and what are you holding to? Is it the
message the Lord has for you and what He has done on your behalf or are you
still holding to dead works that man thinks they still need to do? Today,
will you hear the voice that is speaking to your heart, building up your
confidence in the word of God or are you leaning back to your own
understanding? While many people categorize sin and put it at different
levels, sin is nothing more than unbelief. Sin is sin people, no matter how
it manifests it is all a result of unbelief; for many because they don’t
spend enough time with the Lord hearing His message for themselves and
rightly dividing the word of truth. This same kingdom of God you walked
into can certainly be walked out of as well, because many don’t hold God to
be true to His word and remain confident in His realm. Will you hear His
voice today? Will you put your hand to His plow and continue moving forward
in the realm of the Spirit and not try to establish your own righteousness
by the works of a dead law?
2 Peter 2:18-22 For when they
speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the
flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who
live in error. (19) While they promise them liberty, they themselves are
the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is
he brought in bondage. (20) For if after they have escaped the pollutions
of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse
with them than the beginning. (21) For it had been better for them not to
have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to
turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (22) But it is happened
unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit
again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (KJV)
When I listen to some of
these so called preachers standing in the pulpits and strutting around like
some peacock it reminds me of a bunch of loud mouth drunks in a bar, the
more intoxicated they become with themselves the more the exaggerations and
a stretching of their versions of truth. Any area that a man escapes from
with the help of the Lord only to end up entangled and overcome by it again
results in a situation where they end up in worse shape than they were in
the beginning. Those that walk in the liberty in Christ are those that continue
to grow strong in the Lord and the power of His might, in all things more
than conquerors through Him that loved us. I can do all things through
Christ and without Him we can do nothing, which when I read the above
verses tells me somewhere along the line these people separated themselves
from the Lord giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. Many
well intended people put their hand to a spiritual plow and work the Lord’s
field for a season only to look back to something in the flesh that they
think will make them perfect, sometimes the deception manifests in the form
of the old law and rituals. Move forward, walk in liberty, stand fast in
your faith and remain rooted and grounded in the realm of the Spirit so
that you don’t fall from some cheap thrill in the flesh. God bless and stay
renewed.
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