Most likely the biggest obstacle Christians face that keeps most of them from enjoying their freedom in Christ is legalism. Very few seem to believe that they are not under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14). Most seem to be working hard to please God and be accepted by Him and others. This is called performance-based acceptance and it seems to be where most Christians live. The truth is that we are accepted in the beloved. We are in Christ and He is in us and we cannot get any more accepted than we are. 1
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Cor. 11:3 ESV). Satan has numerous ways to distract us. If we are not focusing on Christ, no matter how good and spiritual it may seem, we have been led astray. I read an article in the newspaper yesterday concerning an interview with the Pope. The name of Jesus was nowhere to be found in the article. I was an officer in an evangelical church and I made a decision to leave the church when Jesus wasn't mentioned in the 3 hour meeting. There were no bad or evil things mentioned in the article or the meeting, but Jesus was left out of them. 2
When people tell you what to do and not do and what to abstain from and avoid they are putting you under law and it will not help you get free, but put you under bondage and/or keep you there. Unfortunately the world operates under law and performance-based acceptance. It all seems reasonable and practical but there is no life in them. 3
There is nothing you can do to improve your life, get free and be sanctified. Stop trying to shape up the old self that you used to be. He is dead. You can't shape up a dead person. True LIFE lives in you. Eternal, divine, victorious LIFE lives in you. Christ lives in you and is your life. He is the way, the truth and the life. 4
Most Christians believe the answer to those three questions is yes and live that way. BUT Jesus has already done it all. There is nothing for us to do, but believe the truth. When the disciples asked Jesus, What must we do, to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent (John 6:28 29 ESV). 5
The problem with a lot of Christians is that when they want to be significant, do something significant, or be remembered for doing something significant is that they are looking at themselves and what they do. Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD'S voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to GOD! Run from evil! (Prov. 3:5 7 MESSAGE) 6
The thing that we think we need and pursue we need to be successful, significant and satisfied is what will rob us of our freedom as it takes our eyes off Christ. Freedom will be experienced when we realize and believe It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1 NIV). Keep in mind that the yoke of slavery is the law. Anytime you make a decision to do something spiritually you have put yourself under law, because it is up to you. We're not saying don't do anthing but believe the truth of who you are in Christ and He is your life trust Him in you. 7
There is really no such thing as success in this world. The ESV calls it the futile ways inherited from your forefathers (1 Pet. 1:18). It might give you a little temporary joy, but in the end it will prove to be empty and futile. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4 ESV). 8
It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in (1 Pet. 1.18 MESSAGE). The old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop (1 Pet. 1:24) 9
I (Mike) have heard Neil Anderson say that the most insecure people in the world are controllers and perfectionists. That is the reason they always try to stay in control. If they can control things and people they feel less insecure. The person who is driven is driven to prove themselves and are performing to be accepted. I (Mike) know. I had been hired to manage the EF Hutton office because I was a successful producer & didn't have to take the aptitude test. Later they asked me to take it so they could put it in the profile of successful producers. But I didn't fit in with them as I didn't have the aptitude, but was driven to perform to be accepted and have worth. 10
9 out 10 Christians do not accept themselves just the way they are and are driven by performance-based acceptance to some degree. But Christians of all people should be able to accept themselves as God accepts them just they way they are. They are totally forgiven and there is no more judgment, shame and condemnation. In fact we cannot get any better than we are. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (Heb.10:14 ESV). We can act better (all of us), but you can't get any better than perfect. 11
On what basis would you not accept yourself? It would be your past performance, you bad behavior and your sin and failure. But God accepts you on the basis of the cross that has removed you sins completely from you and they are no more. For us not to accept ourselves is not being humble, but to make a confession that Jesus didn't accomplish what He came to do. If the cross took care of all your sins and Jesus' prayer that you and He and the Father be one, then accept the fact that it is done and you are one with Him and you are totally accepted. 12
It is the other way around, the only way you will be able to accept yourself is because God accepts you. He accepts you just the way you are. Since 9 out of 10 Christians do not accept themselves, then they are believing the lie and will be in bondage as long as they believe it. So how do we get free. Simply believe the truth that we are dead to sin, freed from it and Christ is our life. Truth sets you free and lies keep you in bondage. 13
Legalism is heresy primarily because it tells you that you must add to the finished work of Christ; that it is up to you to do what needs to be done. Many years ago I was at a Bible conference and Dr. Wilbur Hatch, who taught at Columbia Bible College and Seminary said, If you tell any Christian what he has to do, you're a heretic. But the problem is if you believe it is up to you, you are in bondage. 14
No one will ever experience freedom in Christ who doesn't understand grace. The scripture says, For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:14 NASB). If you are under grace it means it is not up to you, but Christ in you. If you are under law it is up to you to do what you are supposed to do, which is a prescription for bondage and defeat. 15
The problem with trying to do the right thing and avoid sin is that it depends on you. You have put yourself under the law of selfeffort and it will not have a good outcome. The most easy to believe lie that Satan tells us is that we must do good and spiritual things. It is easy to believe him because they are good things such as prayer, bible study, memorization, church attendance, etc. I lived that way for the first 18 years of my Christian life. I studied my bible, memorized chapters of scripture, read hundreds of books, went to seminary and went into the pastorate. How did that work out? I was totally addicted to alcohol. 16
You also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. (Rom. 7:4, 6). You were bound by the law, but have died to its power. But anytime you depend on yourself to do something no matter how good it is you have put yourself under law and are living under it rather than the Spirit. This is where most Christians live today, especially those struggling with addictive behaviors. 17
There are really only two types of teaching you hear today if you are an evangelical. Of course legalism is trying to motivate you to do good things, but there is no power or life in it. Grace teaching exhorts you to believe, centers on Christ, points to Him and is always uplifting. Because legalism focuses on what to do and we can never do it, it comes across as judgmental and has the opposite effect. 18
Legalism robs you of your freedom and we will continue in bondage until we learn that For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:14 NASB) and 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 NASB). Remember the yoke of slavery is the yoke of the law. Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (Gal. 3:3 NIV). When you try to achieve your goal by self-effort, you have put yourself under the law. 19
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For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Gal. 2:19 21 NIV). If you could live a good Christian life by doing the right thing and observing the law, the death of Christ on the cross would be unnecessary. 21
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Gal. 3:1-6 says that: We receive the Spirit by believing truth God works miracles and His will in our life as we believe the truth. Abraham believed God and he was made righteous. We lie the Christian life by FAITH. 23
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Gal. 3:13 14 NIV). EVERYTHING we have in the Christian life we received by faith. We need to respond to God's word as Mary did, Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:36). 24
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. (Gal. 3:24 NIV). The purpose of the law is to show you that Apart from Christ you can do nothing To show you that you can't live the Christian life And that you cannot do right and avoid wrong So that you will turn to Christ and receive Him and trust Him to be y our life. 25
We had to die to the law, be released and redeemed from it so that Christ could be our life and live in us and fulfill the law. in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:4 ESV). We are no longer under law and have the full rights of sons and daughters and are joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). 26
Most discipleship programs and recovery ministries are based on weak and miserable principles of the world because they tell you what you need to do. The things they tell you are are well and good and even spiritual BUT You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires. (Col. 2:20 23 NLT-SE) 27
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So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law You are a severed from Christ, b you who would be justified * by the law; c you have fallen away from grace For in Christ Jesus e neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but f only faith working through love. Gal. 5:1, 4, 6). The only thing that counts in the Christian life is faith that expresses itself through love. 29
The ministry of the law is a ministry of death and condemnation (2 Cor. 3:7-9) BUT He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor. 3:6). You are dead to the law, redeemed and released from it and not under it. The law has nothing to say to you but to condemn you. Many ask me (Mike) How can I believe that? I think most are asking How can I feel that in my life? The answer is you can't and you never will. I don't feel dead to sin and freed from it and never have, But it is the truth whether I believe it or not. 30
Why do we keep trying to shape up? Stop sinning? Do right? Avoid wrong? If we are in Christ and He is in us and we are dead to sin and freed from it and perfect and complete in Him what more can you get get? NOTHING! 31
If we spent half the time we do obsessing over how we feel, what we do or should do and focused on the truth and Christ in us it would have a very liberating and lifechanging effect on us. If you're sitting around waiting until you feel that the truth is true, you will spend the rest of your life in bondage and defeat and be miserable and make everyone around you miserable. 32
There is your formula for you and for life: Abundant grace and righteousness. That's who you are. You are righteous and dead to sin and freed from it. You have been given the victory. What do you do to get it. NOTHING! You receive the gift that has been given to you. It's a GIFT! IT IS ALL GRACE! When you get a great gift, what do you do? You thank Him. That's what faith is. It is receiving the gift freely offered and thanking God for it. Here is a very practical suggestion for you. Stop being consumed with yourself and how bad you are and thank God for His indescribable gift to you (Christ in you). Thank Him that you're dead to sin and freed from and perfect and complete in Christ 33
There is something else to thank God for. Since you are totally forgiven and completely accepted you have God's approval. There is noting to do as nothing you do or don't do has anything to do with it. You are approved because of what Christ did on the cross and the fact that He lives in you and you are one spirit with Him and the Father (1 Cor. 6:17). 34
This is a done deal! IT IS FINISHED!!! No matter how bad you mess up and what you do or don't do, God is going to love you and bless you throughout all eternity. It is settled and there is nothing we can do about it. I encourage you to accept this truth and rest in it and revel in it and embrace His overflowing grace to you. 35
This webinar will not only tell you how you can help others overcome addictions, but shows what the root problem of addiction is and God's only answer for addiction. In this webinar you will see that freedom from addiction is not found in a program, but in a Person Jesus. This webinar will cover issues that are overlooked in most programs, such as the prerequisite for freedom, the fact that God has already provided all you need and it is not up to us. Plus how unforgiveness keeps you in bondage and why we struggle, fail and 36