“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Romans 7:7.

We always want what we don’t have.  We don’t even think about a donut until we go on a diet.  The law, any law, incites us to desire that which we are forbidden.  It, the law, requires two things, obedience or penalty for lack of obedience.  Law doesn’t cause our problem but exposes our problem.  God’s moral Law, the Mosaic Law, has the same effect on sin.  Our human nature causes us to want what we are told we can’t have and, with God’s moral Law, it was righteousness and morality.

When we are born again and become a new creature in Christ Jesus, our sin nature doesn’t die, we are just no longer alive to sin.  It, our sin nature, is isolated from us by the Holy Spirit.  Our faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified allows the Holy Spirit to maintain dominion over our sin nature (Romans 8:2).  Sadly, what happens in many cases, is well intentioned men and women step in to the new Believers life and begin to tell them the “sanctification processes” as ordained by the latest fads coming down the pipe.  Once completing the 4 step classes doing all of the questionnaires, our ministry and place in the “body of Christ” is appointed and we walk blindly into our “good works”.   Our faith is quickly and quietly shifted from what Jesus Christ  has done to give us victory over sin to what we must now do…we have made a law that will quickly incite that sin we are trying to defeat.   We no longer have dominion over our sin nature because our faith has shifted from Jesus’ works to our works and the Holy Spirit is not commissioned to empower faith in our works but  faith in Jesus and what He did for us on the Cross.

Even the most scriptural of things become a law when we do them to overcome sin.  We will not be judged by popular opinion.  We will be judged by what the Word of God says.  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:89.  Don’t frustrate the grace of God by placing our faith for our sanctification anywhere other than where we placed our faith for our Salvation – on Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  By doing so we fail to avail ourselves of the power of God to dethrone our sin nature and our good works quickly become law.  Religion will condemn us for not “performing” our good works which are not good works but a distraction, busy works.  When our faith is properly maintained on what Jesus has done, Who He is and what He has done, HE will put on our hearts HIS desire, HIS will and HIS purpose for our lives and THAT is what becomes our good works.  Man can’t tell you this and the Lord doesn’t need any help, He needs our faith in Him in order for the Holy Spirit  to do what He is commissioned to do – empower the Children of God to have victory over their sin nature.  Fight the good fight, the fight of faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work. – Donna Clark Warren.