“The Lord said moreover unto me; Son of man, will you judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations; That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.” Ezekiel 23:36-37
The idols of today in Christianity do not only consist of wooden statutes of Saints and Angels but cannot be seen nor touched. The idols of today which, sad to say, the majority of Christians fornicate with on a daily basis is their selves. Our self will, abilities, talents, intellect, etc. all serve to offer us ‘our best life now’. Walk in most church buildings today and the gospel of self is proclaimed. It is cloaked in Scripture and therefore the majority of Christians equate it with Biblical doctrine. Not so.
Committing spiritual adultery is an abomination to God. Married to Christ at Salvation, baptized into His Death and created a new creature; we are raised up dead to the sin nature of which we were all born due to Adam’s fall (Romans 6:3-5). Alive unto God, we now have the ability to partake in God’s Divine Nature He bestowed within us when we first believed. Our flesh, the mortal coil of which we dwell, remains bent toward the sin nature which reigned in our hearts and lives until our Salvation. Our flesh wants to follow our self will and our abilities to overcome the dilemma of which we face. It wants to commandeer the situation by devising our own plan and not by Grace through faith. Trusting in these schemes of the flesh and not the Grace of God to provide all that we need according to His riches in glory BY Christ Jesus is adultery…spiritual adultery and is an abomination to God.
Jesus Christ is the Source and the Cross is the means by which we receive everything from God. Looking unto ourselves to author and finish our faith, our faith will be grounded in our abilities. We will be swept to and fro with every wind of doctrine as the sand begins to wash away because we have rendered the Cross of Christ of no effect.
There are many who claim to believe and truly want to believe God but they have been deceived by the gospel of self. Their dependence on their abilities has taken its toll. Their yoke is heavy but they are told it is the cross they must bear. Again, not so.
“And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23
The cross of which they bear is not the cross Christ Jesus afforded them. At Calvary’s Cross, God’s Grace flows uninterrupted; it is sufficient. At Calvary’s Cross, the blessings of God are yes and amen according to HIS Will and not our own. In spite of the unpleasing circumstances; the trials and tribulations which come our way, we know in Whom we have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that of which we have committed unto Him.
The problem with the gospel of self is it does not deny self but embraces self and therefore hinders the Believer from picking up the cross which CHRIST afforded them leaving them unable to follow Him.
Deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Jesus. Be determined to know nothing else among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
-Donna Clark Warren
Living in The Spirit 