The Freedom of Grace

Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect in the flesh?”

The book of Galatians was written to a church that was being misled. Paul started this church himself. He taught them the Gospel, brought them into the faith, and raised up leadership in their congregation. These were people who understood salvation by grace through faith – they were genuinely born-again.

But after Paul left, new teachers (false teachers) came in that began to teach different doctrines – things that sounded good and even made sense. They declared that Paul's gospel of grace was a good start – but now that the Galatians were a part of God's covenant people, they had to conform to the law. In other words, they were being taught, “God did save you by grace, through faith. But now that you're saved, He expects you to get to work and keep His laws.” This makes sense, right? Shouldn't someone obey God's commands after they've been saved?

These Galatian brothers and sisters truly did have a heart for God. So when they heard that they needed to do more, they dug in and tried their hardest to make God happy. Unfortunately, there were disastrous consequences to their attempted obedience. Let's read Galatians 5, verses 19-21:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Remember who Paul was talking to? This wasn't a wild group of sinners – it was a church that was doing their best, trying to obey God's commands! But no matter how hard they tried, these works of the flesh became more and more common. The false teachers used these manifestations of the flesh to prove their point: "See what you're doing? There needs to be some law and order here! Here's the rules - follow them!"

And right here is where we see truth that has plagued mankind since Eden: The more you try to obey, the more disobedience creeps in. Paul explains this paradox further in Romans 7 – a well-known passage to anyone who has struggled with sin.

Romans 7:15-21 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I want to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I don't want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for the want is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I want to do, I do not do; but the evil I don't want to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I don't want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Can anyone relate to this struggle? How often have you been trapped in a sin – knowing that's it's wrong, hating it with every ounce of your spirit, and yet constantly going back to it? Does it ever seem like the harder you try to keep away from sin, the quicker you fall right back into it? If so, then I have amazing news for you – God never intended to leave you in this struggle!

You see, what the false teachers were telling the Galatian church – and what many believers are misled to think today – is that God saved them by grace, forgave their sin, and then said “Go try again. Good luck!” Too many Christians believe that Grace is about forgiveness and being let off the hook when you sin. It's like they believe that God knows that you're only human and there's no way for you to really be free from sin - so He gives grace to cover you when you inevitably mess up. But that is not what grace is about!

Colossians 2:6 tells us “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him...” Friend, how did you receive Jesus? It was by grace, through faith! So how are you supposed to walk in Him? By grace through faith! You weren't meant to be saved by grace, and then perfected by trying to do what's right. You see, God's grace isn't only the forgiveness of sins – it's the freedom from sin! Let me show you what I mean:

Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

Do you see? When you have faith in the grace of God, it will empower you to serve Him in an acceptable way! Grace isn't about what you can get away with - grace is the power to do what you can't do on your own! This is living by faith. This is walking in the spirit! And when you walk in the spirit (that is, when you put your faith in the grace of God, knowing that grace will empower you to do what's right), you WILL NOT fulfill the lusts of the flesh!

Galatians 5:16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

There is a way out of the sin that you're trapped in. There is a way to live a righteous life like you've always wanted. And that way isn't by trying to do what's right. When you try to obey God, you'll fail - we've proven that time and time again. No matter how hard you work at keeping God's commands, the result will always be the works of the flesh. But when you place your faith in God's empowering, glorious, amazing grace – it will break every trace of sin's power off of your life!

In The Beginning, Chapter Nine - Day Six, Part Two

The First Man

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Forming The First Man

After God was done creating and filling the world, he was ready to put his most precious creation in it! Creation was ready to meet its new master. Now let’s look at Genesis 2 - the story of day 6 in much more detail:

Genesis 2:4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,”

Genesis 2:1-3 tell us about the seventh day (we’ll see this later), but from verse 4 through to verse 25 is the detailed story of the sixth day. God jumped back a day to give us more details about the most important part of the creation week. This is how we know that Genesis 2 is telling the story of day six: Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2 both tell the story of the creation of man and they both end with the creation of the woman.

But while Genesis 1:26-27 give us the summarized, headline version of God’s creation of man, we can see a more detailed version of this same story in Genesis 2:4-7. In the creation of man, God took a much more personal, much more intimate approach. But first, He did some prep-work!

Genesis 2:5-6 “before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

First of all, let’s not hold onto dogma that isn’t based in scripture. Some teachers have used these verses to teach that it never rained before Noah’s flood. They have  tried to make the claim that the mist that’s mentioned in verse 6 was how the whole earth was watered before the flood. But let’s keep the text in context! When we read verse 6, we can see that the phrase, “For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth…” is referring to the same time period as the next phrase: “...and there was no man to till the ground...” This is not speaking about the environment over a long period of time, but was making mention of the time just before man was created.

These verses were the beginning of the story of man’s creation. The reason that God caused a mist to come up out of the ground was because it hadn’t rained yet - and God needed wet dirt for what He was about to do!

After watering the dirt, God did something that must have shocked all of creation...

Genesis 2:7a And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground...

God stepped out of His heavenly throne-room and into the earth. Stooping down into the damp dirt, God began to shape it into a body. It was similar in some ways to the animals. It was made from the dirt, like theirs. It had some features in common with theirs; such as bilateral symmetry, four limbs, and all of the same internal and external organs. But after forming this body, God did something that made this creature very different from the animals!

A “Living Soul”

Like we’ve just seen, the difference between the man and animals wasn’t in his body - that was similar in many respects to animals. Every living creature that God made had a body.

But, hear me carefully, there is something else that every living creature has. Every animal that God made - as well as the mankind - has a soul. The soul is attached to the brain. It includes the mind and thoughts, the will and desires, and the emotions.

While some animals have a higher intelligence than others, every animal has some degree of thought and reason. Every animal has its own desires and wants - though they mostly surround feeding and reproduction. Every animal has its own emotions - albeit some have much deeper emotions than others (elephants, for example are even known to feel sorrow over the death of a herd member).

The soul (in Hebrew, “nephesh”) is a natural part of every living creature, including man. (As a side note, this is why a lot of Christian seem to be stuck in their old nature. Before we were saved, our lives were ruled by our souls. And as long as a believer operates out of his intelligence, his desires, or his emotions...he is no different from the animals. Yikes!) Although humans have a much higher soul than other creatures, it is still just as natural as theirs. It wasn’t the soul that made this new creature different from the other creatures. There was something else in this man; something that separated him from the rest of creation.

Genesis 2:7b “...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

As this lifeless body laid on the ground, God breathed into him the breath of life. Then, this man became a “living being.” The Hebrew term for living being is “Nephesh Hayah” – literally “a living soul.” This term is actually referring to the spirit of man. With this impartation of the spirit, the man became three parts - spirit, soul, and body.

The literal term for spirit is “living soul” - I believe this means that our spirit is a higher form of our soul. What do I mean by this? Well, just like our soul has thoughts, our spirit has thoughts. Just like our soul wants things, our spirit has desires. Just like our soul feels things, our spirit has emotions and feelings. But our spirit is made to exist in a higher form than our soul! What makes it higher?

God is a spirit...more specifically, He is THE spirit. John 4:24 tells us this: “God is Spirit.” So when God breathed into the man, He was imparting His own nature into him - he became like God! Notice that this verse doesn’t say that man had a living soul - it says that he became a living soul. This means that, unlike any other creature that God had made, man became a spirit that had a soul and lived inside of a body.

Angels are spirits without bodies. Animals are souls and bodies without spirits. But here was a creature that was capable of operating in the natural world and the spiritual! Imagine the angels’ surprise at the amount of attention that God gave to this lump of dirt! Imagine their shock as God laid Himself on top of this earthly body.

In 2 Kings 4, there is a beautiful picture of what God did when He breathed life into the man. It’s the story of Elisha and a little dead boy:
“When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed. He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord. Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again! Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!

I believe that this is what happened in Genesis 2. You see, with all of His new creations watching, God laid down on this body He had just made, putting His hands on the man’s hands, His feet on the man’s feet, His mouth on the man’s mouth, His eyes on the man’s eyes. Then God breathed part of His own Spirit into the man – and He became a spirit like God! If this is how the man came to life, then imagine his first sight when he opened his eyes! God wanted the first thing that the man saw to be His own face!

So now, earth had a creature that was just like God. God named him Adam - which means “red.” Some speculate that he got this name because he was made out of red dirt. Others believe that he may have been redheaded. Another possibility was that his name was a reference to his lifeblood, something that no other spirit had.

A Whole New Perspective

When you read through the Biblical account of mankind’s origins, you can’t help but notice how much difference there is between this and what is taught inside most college classrooms! We’ve seen the amazing amount of care that God took when He created the first man. Is it any wonder, then, that the demonic fairy tale of evolution is trying to reduce mankind into just an intelligent animal? I wonder if Satan gets amusement when he watches humans - the ones who should have dominion and control over all creation - lowering themselves by saying “we’re no different from any other animal.”

We could literally spend pages pointing out why the theory of evolution is wrong on the topic of human origins. We could point out (again) the credibility issues with evolutionary timelines. We could focus on each link of the evolutionary chain from apes to humans - and how each individual is either fully ape or fully human. We could pinpoint the hoaxes (such as Piltdown man) and the shoddy science (like Nebraska man) that occasionally pop up in the paleo-anthropology field. We could even demonstrate the absurd fact that nearly every fossilized ape that has been dug up has been branded as the missing link in human evolution at some point! But debunking human evolution isn’t the goal of this writing.

The goal in this chapter is to give a fresh perspective on where we came from. Every believer needs to understand this one point...that we have been truly made in God’s own image! We are not just another part in the animal kingdom.

With the forming of Adam, creation was nearing an end. But God still wasn’t done with His work yet!

Bless The Lord!

Psalm 103:1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”

The 103rd Psalm is a well-known passage of scripture. We read it often, quote it, and even sing it. But all too often we skip ahead to verse 3, where David starts listing all the things that God does for us! But look again at the very first thing David wrote. This Psalm isn’t about God blessing us - it’s about our soul blessing Him!

If you remember, we are made up of three parts: spirit, soul, and body.  When we were born again, the real us (our spirit) was totally recreated! Before salvation, our spirit was dead in sin - but now it is alive in Jesus Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:17 shows us this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Now that we’re born again, our spirit craves the things of God. We desperately desire God’s Word, we long to obey His commands, and there’s nothing we enjoy more than to spend time with Him and His people. This is true of every born-again believer!

So why do these desires sound foreign to so many of God’s people? It’s because they still think their soul is the real them! The soul is a person’s thoughts, desires, and emotions. Actually, let me clarify - it is a person’s natural thoughts, desires, and emotions. The Hebrew word for soul is “nephesh.” This word speaks of the natural mind. In fact, the soul is truly a part of nature - even animals themselves have souls, as limited as they may be. Animals think things through, make decisions based on their surroundings, and even possess emotions like fear and contentment. You see? What truly separates us from the rest of nature is our third part - our spirit!

When you’re born again, you are given a brand new spirit, but your soul remains the same!  All of a sudden, your godly spirit begins to desire everything that God has. This brings it into conflict with your soul, which is still thinking the same thoughts and desiring the same things. This is the fight every believer faces for the rest of their time on earth - spirit vs. soul, new vs. old, spiritual vs. carnal. When I’m teaching kids I call it, “The Battle Of The Two Mes.” It all boils down to one thing - are you going to obey God or do your own thing?

Some may say, “If being born again leads to this conflict, then why didn’t God just give us new souls too?” Trust me on this, you’re glad He didn’t! Everything you’ve ever learned. from “don’t touch a hot stove” to “now I know my ABCs”, is stored in your soul! If God replaced your soul, you would have to re-learn everything you know right now! Going even further than that, your soul holds all of your memories. Aren’t there things in your life (even before salvation) that you want to remember? Important memories - such as memories of loved ones, cherished times, and lessons learned the hard way - are also stored in your soul. God never intended to replace your soul - He intended you to renew it!

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

How do we win the battle of the soul? By renewing your mind with God’s Word. This is what the Bible refers to as the salvation of your soul. We see this in James 1:21, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” God’s plan was to help you tame your soul and bring it under the control of your recreated spirit!

So what does this have to do with Psalm 103? Listen again to what David said: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” We know that David was a worshipper. It seems as if worship just flowed out of Him! But in Psalm 103, David seems to be reminding himself to worship God. Why? He was stirring up worship from his soul!

Most believers think that real worship only happens when they get all emotional. They mix up worship from the spirit and worship from the soul. True worship always comes from the spirit. Our new nature loves to worship God - it flows out of our spirit naturally. Our spirit will worship God as a default - for Who He is! But worship out of the soul - from the mind, will and emotions - is kind of shallow. This kind of worship comes and goes based on the way we feel. So the key to true worship is remembering where it really comes from: your new nature.

Be that as it may, I do enjoy getting my soul involved in worship! We’ve already seen that David did too! I want to show you the right way to get your soul into your worship. The key isn’t going to church, sitting next to the right person, turning the lights down just right, and singing the right song. The key to having your soul agree with your spirit in worship is found in the very next verse...

Psalm 103:1,2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits...”

This is why David began to list the blessings that God gave him; to stir up his soul! When you begin to remember all the things that God has done for you, and list them out loud, it stirs up your mind and your emotions. You begin to realize how much He deserves for what He’s done for you. Then you begin to stir up your desire - even your soulish desire - to worship your Heavenly Father.

Do you remember His benefits? If you’ll read the next few verses, David will list some of them. Meditate on what God has done for you - this will stir your soul into worship. When you’re worshipping God from your spirit, soul and body; then you can truly say, “Bless the LORD...all that is within me, bless His holy name!”

How To Obey The Ten Commandments

Galatians 3:13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’”

Sadly, this beautiful verse has been used out of context all too often. Many people claim that the message of this verse is that we have been redeemed from the ten commandments, that we’ve been redeemed from the law. They combine this verse with Matthew 22:37-39 and try to claim that the law has no relevance to us - that the only thing we need to do in the New Testament is love God and love our neighbor. After all, we’re under grace in the New Testament - right? They don’t seem to recognize that Galatians 3:13 tells us that Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law - not the law itself!

The mindset of some believers is, “I don’t have to obey all of the commandments now that I’m saved. I only have to love God and other people.” But read closely what Jesus said in Matthew 22. “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’” Jesus wasn’t taking away the law and giving us something easier to do. The point is that love will keep the law!

I’ve said this before, but there is a great misunderstanding in modern Christianity of what God’s grace is. It’s not merely unlimited forgiveness or a license to live however you want. Rather, it’s the power of God for a new start, wisdom for the right way to live, and the ability to do what God commands.

We’re saved by grace through faith. Romans 3:20 makes it clear that salvation cannot come through obedience. “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” It’s true that the ten commandments don’t have a cause/effect relationship to our salvation. We can’t earn our forgiveness and salvation by the law. Ephesians says it this way, “By grace you have been saved through faith, not of works...” So salvation comes through faith alone.

But look at what Romans 3:31 says, “Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.” Faith isn’t unrelated to works. Paul says here that faith is what empowers us to obey the law. This agrees with the what the epistle of James tells us - faith leads to obedience. So after salvation, God’s grace and our faith work together to fulfill the law! Romans 6:14 illustrates the sin-free lifestyle that grace empowers us to live: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

The point is, it’s only through the power of grace that we can obey the commands of the law. When you try to obey the law through your flesh, you’re going to be frustrated. Romans 7:14-20 describes the frustration that comes when we try to obey the law on our own strength: “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it isgood. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

We can’t obey the law on our own. If we could, we would be able to save ourselves. But we can’t, because our natural flesh can’t keep God’s spiritual commandments. The only answer is to live your life by your born-again spirit. Romans 8:2-6 says this: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Do you see it? When we live our life by the Spirit of God, we are empowered to fulfill the law!

The key book on law vs. grace - Galatians -has this very fact as its central theme. Galatians 5:18 says it this way, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Why? Because when you’re led by the Spirit, you have the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) growing in your life. And when you live in the spirit, the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) have no more place. You begin to naturally fulfill the law!

I Couldn't Stop Myself!

Have you ever heard someone say that? Or maybe,  “I just can’t help it!” These are usually excuses kids make when they do something wrong. A lot of times, after getting caught hitting another child, they’ll say something like, “But they made me so mad!” We all know this: it’s a sign of maturity to accept responsibility for our own actions. Right? There has to be a day in everyone’s life when they realize that they can control themselves!

This is even more true for believers! Galatians 5:22-23 says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” The more time we spend driving our roots into God’s presence, the more we will be competent enough to control ourselves.

Self-control is vital for a believer. In the New Living Translation, Proverbs 25:28 says; “A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” Apparently, self-control works like a defense for your life. We all know someone who’s life look like it’s been broken apart. Many times, they’ve fallen apart because they never took control of their life. Granted, not every problem in life is caused by the lack of self-control. But trust me on this, if you don’t learn to control yourself, your life will break down!

Just like the world has a counterfeit of joy (called happiness), a counterfeit kindness (called tolerance), and a counterfeit goodness (bigotry) - it also possesses a counterfeit self-control. When the world speaks of self-control, it is often referring to a gym attendance or to denying your appetite for something sweet. That’s certainly a great place to start, but Christian self-control goes far beyond the physical realm.

When the world speaks of self-control, it’s referring to your soul controlling your body. When the Bible speaks of self-control, it’s referring to your spirit controlling your soul. When this fruit of the Spirit starts to manifest in a believer’s life, he begins to understand that he is in control of his desires, his emotions, and even his thoughts. As the Holy Spirit produces self-control inside our spirit, we’ll be able to stop our soul from running away with our lives.

If there was ever a time to manifest this fruit of the Spirit, it’s now! In today’s society, there are fewer and fewer roadblocks to doing whatever you want. Without self-control, you may find yourself on the other side of some very wrong decisions, wondering what happened. Why? Because it’s easier than ever to let your soulish emotions and carnal desires rule your life. In fact, American culture has degenerated so far that believers who keep their soul in check are often considered strange.
“What? You’re waiting till you get married? No one does that anymore!”
“Are you going to let him walk all over you, just because he’s the boss?”
“Be serious - you’ve never had a drink?”
“It’s not tax evasion, it’s a ‘loophole’ - besides, they never check these things anyway!”

You see, 2 Timothy 3 gives a clear picture of what will happen to the world in the end times. Read this and see if you notice these things in the world right now. “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

Notice, right at the center of this list is “without self-control.” Isn’t that what’s happening now? Hasn’t our society done everything it can to avoid personal responsibility for people’s actions? It isn’t rebellion, it’s Attention Deficit Disorder - they can’t control themselves. It isn’t drunkenness, it’s alcoholism - they’re sick. It’s not immorality (it’s not even a choice) - they were born that way. It isn’t an outburst of wrath - their genetic code gives them a predisposition to violence.

Even in the church - where freedom should reign - we’ve locked people into their “problems”. We’ve kept people in depression, lust, addictions, and anger by telling them that they don’t have a choice, they’re sick. We’ve tried to hold support groups, but they still live in fear of returning to the bottle. We’ve tried medication, only to have it make their depression worse. We’ve been afraid to confront, for fear of driving them away.

When are we going to understand? The world struggles with these things - but Jesus came to set us free! When you gave your life to Jesus, He broke the hold that these things had on you. The old you may have been addicted, but that man died when you got saved. That other kid may have been diagnosed as ADD....but now you’re a new creation in Christ Jesus! Now the fruit of self-control is growing in your life! Now you can stop yourself! Now you have nothing stopping you from living the life that Jesus died to give you!