In Conclusion but Not the End

God has been teaching me many things concerning Himself as of late. How He works in me and my life and just plain who He really is. I've been freed from legalistic and performance based believing. I've expressed alot of this freedom in may of my posts. It could easily be confused that I have a passive and "oh well" attitude towards sin. Which is not the case as I explained in "Go With the Flow Continued". It's freedom from thinking that I can screw up bad enough or sin away anything concerning God in my life. Many Christians today teach a religion concerning Christ that is nothing more then rules and principles. (Post Fellowship vs. Principles) 

I'll be honest, sometimes I avoid reading the Bible because on the surface in some places it can be confusing without knowing what context in which it was written. But that doesn't mean that God hasn't been teaching me. One of the freedoms in Christ is that I have the Word living inside me teaching me and causing me to grow. John 1:1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Whether He teaches me through the written Word which is the Bible or through the living Word which is His Spirit living inside me, either teachings are priceless and valid. Not that I will always understand either correctly as I am human and imperfect. I'm not saying that reading the Bible is not necessary or of no use since we have the Word living inside us, but rather He teaches us both ways and both are as equally important and valid. Rather He uses them together to teach us. Many times God has taught me something through His Spirit and then some time later I find what He taught written when reading His Word.

Oswald Chambers puts it this way: When the Holy Spirit is in me, He will bring to my remembrance what Jesus has said and make His Words live. The Spirit enables me to assimilate the words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit exercises a remarkable power in that He will frequently take a text out of it's Bible setting and put it into the context of our life. We have all had the experience of a verse coming to us right out of the Bible setting and becoming alive in the setting of our own life, and that word becomes a precious, secret possession.

I believe that God teaches us two different ways: He teaches us through His Spirit (the living Word) and then when we find it in the written Word are then able to understand it because we've experienced it. Also he teaches by taking the written Word we've read and brings understanding through experience that takes place later on. Visa versa. God uses both His living Word and written Word together to bring understanding and growth. Both are just as important and valid and work together. They are different version of the same thing. The written Word and living Word are different forms yet are both the Word.

Religion today wants to put so much importance in doing all the pat Christian things and following all the steps and rules. There is importance in living out the Word in our lives, but they put more importance on doing rather than being first. Doing and being are both important, but you can't have the one without the other. We put more importance on acting like Christ then becoming like Christ which should come first. What good is it to us and those around us if we just simply act like Christ? It will only be surface deep and will ultimately fail because it's no different then putting on our Sunday best for an outward appearance. One of the biggest dangers in interpreting and teaching scripture is taking truths and putting them out of balance of each other.

If Christ were to return today He would find me being like Him through His Grace and Holy Spirit even though my behavior isn't always Christ like. That is true freedom, for where my behavior doesn't match up He has provided forgiveness and Grace. I not too long ago heard another Christian expressing deep guilt and frustration over all the times they fail over and over again. I thought how sad, because I used to be that way.(sometimes am still tempted to)( and don't wonder if it's you I'm talking about because this person doesn't even know I have a blog) I can't live a victorious life if all I do is keep track of how many times I fail. By doing that I am putting more importance on my performance then on the truth's of Christ's grace and forgiveness. Honestly anymore when I fail it doesn't just bring sorrow but brings such thankfulness to my heart  because I know He's taken care of it all. I remember Joyce Meyer always saying, when you ask for forgiveness accept it and don't walk around carrying it with you all day when God has taken it from you. I don't just ask for forgiveness but I live in it. Living in grace and forgiveness brings freedom when it comes to the imperfections that only God can changed. Christ died not just for my sin but the also the guilt and shame of it. He took my sin and made it as if He commited them and they are no longer mine. My sin literally no longer belongs to me because He took it and made it His and then paid for it once and for all. His Word says that He has removed it as far as the East is from the West. Which when you think about it is a place that doesn't exist. He's taken my sin and made it as though it never even existed. Make Sense? I hope so.


This post has been all my other "churchy" posts wrapped into one, a conclusion so to speak. But I know there will be more to come as I grow further. I have an OCD type need to not just express myself but to feel that I've expressed myself fully. (and made sense) I wish there was a word or phrase that fully expresses all that God has freed me from and taught me. To say that God has freed me from legalism is only a small part of it. I have yet to find that word or phrase that fully coveys it. When it comes to my thankfulness and love towards God there really aren't any words that fit either. When the Bible says that the Holy Spirits intercedes for us with groans that we can not express, I believe it isn't just the hurts, requests, and needs, but the love and thankfulness we can't express with words. His Spirit expresses it for me in a way I never could.