Led By the Spirit

Galatians 5:18-23
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,[a] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,[b] 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.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

When we are being led by the Spirit we are not under the law. This means that we are NOT walking by our own desires which lead to the works of the flesh that are listed in vs. 19 and 20. And when we are being LED by the Spirit we will bear fruit such as that listed in vs. 22 and 23. So how do we know when we are being led by the Spirit? It is when there is evidence of the fruit of the Spirit; then we can know we are being led by the Spirit.

In the Colossians 3 below, notice in vs. 8 that Paul tells us to “put off” all these. He is telling us not do the things we used to do when we were under the law. These are the deeds of the "old man." Notice how he tells us in vs. 10 that we should "put on" the “new man.” Notice that WE are "putting off" and "putting on."

This might seem like a silly example, but when we get up in the morning and we dress ourselves, we don’t wait for the Lord to dress us. We take off our night clothes and put on the clothes that we are going to wear that day. We are making a conscious decision in what we are going to wear that day. There is no reason why our walk with Christ shouldn’t be the same. Sometimes it’s easy to recognize the deeds of the old man; and sometimes it’s not so easy because self rears its ugly head and will tell you it’s impossible. But we know this: Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Colossians 3


1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Why Does God Allow Suffering

We understand that there is a reason for God allowing things to happen. And we know that the Bible tells us that mankind is desperately wicked. We are reminded of the wickedness of man when these awful things like child rape and so forth happen. And God, by allowing us to see these evils of men, His holiness and goodness stand out apart from men's decadence. We are reminded how evil the heart of man can be, and what wretched fallen creatures the children of Adam are. And how desperately mankind needs salvation. In fact, if God were not restraining the wickedness of man to a great degree, things would be far worse.

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

The fact is, we live in a fallen sin-cursed world, and bad things happen. And we know that these trials of life prove us. God has ordained all that comes to pass, and nothing can happen outside of His control and plan. When some great evil or disaster befalls us, or the people we care about, our faith is tested. Do we curse God or find fault in Him? Or do we continue to trust in him like Job? We know that when these awful things occur, God uses them for his own sovereign purpose, even though we may not understand why God is allowing them to happen when we see them. We must trust in Him.

Genesis 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

And Romans 5:3,4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Suffering produces endurance (Greek - hypomone). How can we learn endurance without suffering? Take suffering away, and there would be nothing to endure.

Endurance produces character (Greek - dokime). In other words, we are tried and tested, and how are we going to be tested without suffering?

The last link is hope. Suffering produces hope. Hope for what? Hope of glory; and God, who gives the suffering, will deliver the glory.

And don't forget...
Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;

Binding and Loosing

Matthew 16:18-19
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Addressing this promise to Peter (rock), is simply an illustration of the “power to loose (forgive sins) and to bind (retain sins) that the believers will receive to build the Church. Such power to conquer or prevail over Satan’s “Gates of Hell” can only come from “thee” Rock, which is Christ. Though the person to whom this promise is made in this instance is Peter, he is representative of all believers. The rest of the apostles also received this power of forgiveness of sins, and the judgment in binding sins. Christ gave all of them full power and authority by the Spirit, that their preaching the gospel is as the keys to both bind and loose . It (the Word of God) is what truly binds and looses, not Peter, Paul or John. And Christ is the only Rock (starting or foundation stone) upon which the Church can be built. He is the only foundation that can hold the weight of the Church. Certainly Peter could not have the Church rest upon him.

Nor were these keys to bind and loose given only to Peter. As John 20 plainly illustrates to anyone willing to read it, Christ gave this same power of the keys to all the Apostles.

John 20:22-23
And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

The same Power to bind and loose is the power of salvation and of judgment which Christ gave to His servants (Acts1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”). In their coming in the Spirit of God, preaching the Gospel, they receive this power to bind and loose. That is why in Matthew 16 Christ said, “whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. It is a very clear illustration that the power to bind and loose, to forgive sins and retain sins, had already been prescribed in heaven, and Peter and the Church were only the vessels used by God to preach that the power of the gospel might bring what has been foreordained to fruition.

Notice that the power promised, the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Salvation and Judgment), is a symbolic figure of the ability to be able to “administer” what has already been ordained in heaven before. As the prophets of old, the gift of being a Messenger of the Gospel, the mouthpiece of God is by His Servants coming in the Spirit and power of God.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:1-3

The 'Camel Method' of Evangelism is Not Biblical...Paul Proctor

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide [is] the gate and broad [is] the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it." Matt. 7:13

I have addressed, on numerous occasions, the Church’s ongoing efforts to reinvent Christianity into a global religion of Results & Relationships by using the powers of pragmatism and consensus to artificially grow itself into something more widely accepted by the world instead of faithfully proclaiming the Word of God “in season and out” as we are commanded to do in 2nd Timothy 4:2. The leaders of the new spirituality and its church growth movement have always had a hard time avoiding the “wide gate” and “broad way” choosing clever methods of “evangelism” that are not only incompatible with God’s Word, but also prove them unwilling to trust Him with the increase – ever looking for something more clever, spectacular and impressive to glory in and boast about to a watching world.

“…for men to search their own glory is not glory.” – Proverbs 25:27b


“So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” – 1st Corinthians 3:7

There’s no better example of this than a recent story from The Baptist Standard where Christians are encouraged by a “veteran missionary” to employ what’s called “The Camel Method” to evangelize, where the Quran is used, instead of the Bible, to share Christ with Muslims – a method that reportedly utilizes “selected verses” and “doesn’t teach or lecture, but asks questions.”

Isn’t this exactly what dialectically trained facilitators have done for years in many seeker-sensitive and purpose driven churches to draw and hold large and diverse crowds of potential converts with a lot of non-offensive opinion sharing and relationship building in order to find common ground and greater tolerance for one another through compromise and group dynamics? That may be the agenda of global socialists at the United Nations, but it’s not the Bible’s agenda for Christians or the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m sure the UN would have no problem with a program like this where sidelining biblical truths for a contrived unity is celebrated and syncretism is the spirituality of choice.

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” – Proverbs 14:12

According to the report, missionary Kevin Greeson, who “has served 16 years with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board,” is “working to start Christian movements among Muslims in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal…” adding that “his goal focuses less on individual conversions and more on starting spiritual movements that will result in thousands of Muslims becoming followers of Christ.”

Greeson: “Our generation can’t afford to be satisfied or happy with winning one lost person to Christ. There are so many lost people, we can’t be happy with that.”

“…I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” – Luke 15:10

Certainly most Christians would like to see more than one person they witness to repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but where in God’s Word are we commanded to “take up thy Quran” and “go ye into all the world and start a movement?” Sure it sounds lofty and high-minded in our Big Box culture where consumers like to impress each other and get the most for the least; but isn’t this more of an exercise in ecumenical egomania and spiritual sleight-of-hand than humble obedience to Jesus’ call to “take up thy cross” and “go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature?”

It’s alarming enough that the Bible is set aside with this method of “evangelism,” but it’s outright heresy that Jesus Christ is presented as the son of Allah, since Allah was widely recognized and worshipped as a pagan moon god even before there was a Mohammed.

How then can the truth set you free if it begins with a lie?

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9

"WHAT I WILL I DO NOT PRACTICE"

Romans 7 is Paul’s commentary on the 10th commandment (“you shall not covet). I believe God used the 10th commandment to “kill” the self-righteous Pharisee that Paul was before his conversion.

I understand this now. Before I was converted I believed the same thing. I came out of Roman Catholicism and was taught how to be righteous by keeping the Law. When I left that religious system I got mixed up in another religious system and was taught a mixed mess of evangelical Christianity. I believed that Jesus died for my sins. I had an intellectual understanding of what Jesus did on the cross. Unfortunately, I was still filled with a self-righteous spirit. Nothing really changed in me.

In Philippians 3, Paul states that before his conversion he considered himself “blameless.” ...concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:6) And we know that changed for Paul on the road to Damascus. Like the rich young ruler, Paul the Pharisee could say, “I have kept all these (several of the earlier commandments) from my youth. …concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Luke 18:21).
Convicted by the Holy Spirit, Paul had to admit he was in violation of the 10th commandment. He was a dead sinner before his conversion.

But what about after conversion? The 10th commandment showed Paul that sin was “utterly sinful.” Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. (Romans 7:13).
Thus begins Paul’s present tense discussion of his Christian life:

Romans 7:14, 15 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.

The New King James Version translates thelo as “will,” rather than “desire.” If that is correct, Paul is stating that he wills (decides) to not practice certain things but still ends up practicing them (specifically coveting). Granted, the Greek term thelo has a range of meaning that includes both “will” and “wish” or “desire.” Which does Paul intend here?

Consider that Paul is a passionate and motivated person. No one reading the New Testament would doubt that. Paul can mean, “I would like not to sin” or he can mean “I decide not to sin” which is the stronger meaning. It is hard to imagine Paul using the weaker term when describing his own motivation not to sin.

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” (Romans 7:7). Paul is discussing coveting. He uses the Greek word for “lust” or “strong desire.” After muddling around in the Greek translation of what Paul meant it comes out like this: “I desire not to strongly desire.” We can take that to mean “I have a weaker desire not to lust than I have to lust.” That would make sense. But is that what he means?

It makes sense this way: “I resolve (make a decision) not to lust, but I still have lust.”

Based on this I believe Paul’s use of thelo (used 7 times in Romans 7:15-21) to mean “to will.”

Romans 7: 15 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. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 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. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

More to follow…