“1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from Grace.
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” Galatians 5:1-5
When the works of the law, whether they be made up by an individual or a denomination, are resorted to for “righteousness” (aka Sanctification, sinless perfection, etc.), the Cross of Christ Jesus shall profit us nothing. Whatsoever is not of faith in the sufficiency of the Cross of Christ to expel that which is not pleasing unto God in the heart of the Believer, is sin.
When we resort in vain philosophies presented as biblical doctrine to overcome the power of sin which was utterly broken by Jesus Christ when He died on Calvary’s Cross, we are deeming His Finished Work as insufficient and seek to do our part to obtain righteousness by law and not by faith.
We who have chosen this day to believe upon the Cross of Christ to remove those things which are not pleasing unto God and look to Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith, wait on the hope of righteousness. Upon repentance of the sin that so easily besets us, we are forgiven and wait upon our deliverance. We know that we know that we know that sin shall not have dominion over us because we choose this day to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Jesus. There is in fact no way to follow Jesus until our abilities, talents and intellect are denied and through the Spirit of God we wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Because we have believed upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the Source and the means by which we receive righteousness, we give the Holy Spirit latitude to superintend the work of God in our hearts. Our hearts are circumcised. Old things pass away and all things become new. We are truly a new creature in Christ Jesus once we have believed upon Him for Salvation and as we continue believing upon Him for Sanctification, we are changed from glory to glory into the image of Christ Jesus. This feeble shell of which we dwell will one day pass but our eternal soul will live on. We will all received glorified bodies but sadly some will not spend their eternity in their glorified bodies in Heaven but in a devil’s hell.
It is my prayer that all will choose to believe upon Jesus Christ as their Saviour but sadly I know that will not be so. Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leads unto Salvation. Salvation is available for whosoever will believe…but not all will believe.
It is also my prayer that all who have chosen to believe upon Jesus Christ as their Saviour will also believe upon Him as their Sanctifier. At Calvary, Christ Jesus paid the penalty of sin for the believing sinner AND He broke the power of sin for the believing Saint. The problem is, few Saints believe Him and we take on the ministry of the Holy Spirit to circumcise our hearts through vain philosophies cloaked in Scripture presented as “biblical”.
Sin shall NOT have dominion over the Believer who remain under the Government of Grace by faith in the Cross of Christ. Wait on the hope of righteousness. Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and His Finished work on Calvary. It was and is and will forever be sufficient to utterly break and expel all powers of darkness. Seek Him while He may be found.
-Donna Clark Warren
Living in The Spirit 