“³ Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.

⁴ Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

⁵ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water (natural child birth NOT water baptism) and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.

⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷ Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again.” John 3:3-7.

As I was traveling down the interstate the other day I saw a sign that read “Deny Fear”. How does an unbeliever deny fear when God has not given them the Spirit of power, love and a sound mind…when the Lord has not given them the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 1:7) to isolate the spirit of fear?  How do the lost overcome fear lest they be born again?   How do they just say no to fear?

As far as that goes, how does one just say no to anger lest they be born again?  How about pride…how do we “deny pride”?  If we can deny fear, surely we can deny pride as well, right?

” ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

²¹ Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21.

If one can simply deny the works of the flesh, which is born of Saints who walk after the flesh or sinners who are not born again (born of the Spirit), why did Jesus go to Calvary’s Cross to give His Children dominion over the flesh?  We are not under law, we are under grace (Romans 6:14). If the law of denial will set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2), howbeit our Lord Jesus had to go to Calvary’s Cross to set us free?  The ONLY law that is greater than the law of sin and death is the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus which requires faith in Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross for whosoever will believe.  Then and only then is the Holy Spirit commissioned to free us from the law of sin and death; to free us from fear, anger, pride and any and all other works of the flesh which manifest from walking after the flesh.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7.  The devil will not flee unless we are submitted to God’s Redemption Plan – faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, the power of God for those of us who are saved (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The billboard I saw was on the side of the interstate.  It was not a “religious” billboard but more of an athletic motivational billboard.  However, sadly, this is the same gospel being proclaimed behind many pulpits today.  They may add some Scripture to make it sound more religious but the source of their victory remains “self” and the means “self will or self effort” (denial).  This “victory”, which is born of the flesh, will not overcome the law of sin and death…it simply can’t.

All of this being said, the message today is for those struggling with unsaved loved ones.   Unless they be born again, they cannot see the Kingdom of God.  Evil cannot discern righteousness.  They see evil in everything.  Their anger provokes them to see anger in everyone.  Their pride provokes them to see pride in others. Nothing can be said or done to help them overcome these works of the flesh unless they be born again.

However, this does not mean we stop praying for them.  This does not mean we stop loving them.  We must simply realize that no matter  what “we” do for them, unless they be born again, unless they receive the Spirit of Life, the Holy Spirit, through faith in Christ Jesus, they cannot deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Jesus.  An unbeliever cannot deny themselves, they do not want to pick up their cross and they certainly can’t follow Jesus.  They may know the ways of Jesus but they can’t follow Him.  Many know the ways of the Lord but are not born again.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17.

Recognize, unbelievers cannot discern righteousness and do not be caught in the snare of the devil to partake in their works of the flesh.

-Donna Clark Warren

“²⁰ He (Abraham) staggered not at the Promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

²¹ And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.

²² And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:20-22

A religious ceremony has nothing to do with our Salvation and neither does it have anything to do with our Sanctification.  The feasts, festivals and traditions of man from the vanities of their own minds will not impute righteousness.  Forgive me, it will impute righteousness…self righteousness.

However, being fully persuaded that what God has promised, God is able to perform imputes the righteousness of God to us.  Reckoning ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God through the finished work of Jesus Christ attributes the righteousness of Jesus (Romans 6:11).  It is only when we have faith in Jesus, Who He is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross to give us dominion over sin (Romans 6:14), that His righteousness is accredited (imputed) to our account.  I’m speaking here of Sanctification, not Salvation – I’m speaking to Believers.

When we stagger at the promises of God and resort to methods of man, we are not glorifying God.  We are not persuaded that He is able to perform.  Our 40 days of purpose, unmerited favor, shemitahs, prayer shawls, etc. are from the vanities of man’s mind to achieve righteousness.  Again, righteousness is only accredited (imputed) to us when our faith is in the only one righteous among us – Jesus Christ.

If we have not reckoned ourselves dead indeed unto sin through faith in Jesus’ finished work but through our religious works, whatever they may be…we have made the Cross of Christ of none effect.

“For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:” Romans 4:14.

Those works; the feasts, fasting, traditions, etc. become the laws by which we seek the promises of God.  Fasting, as Scriptural as it is, was not given to man to impute the righteousness of Jesus to our account. Even praying, by all means should we pray and pray without ceasing…but our prayers will not impute the righteousness of Jesus to our account.

Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Are you fully persuaded?  Stagger not my friend.

“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,  Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21….and amen.

-Donna Clark Warren

The moral decline of the modern church is the result of spiritual deterioration.  Many will claim to be spiritual and they indeed are “spiritual” but they receive their information from demon spirits and not the Holy Spirit. With their mouths they draw near to God, and honor Him with their lips; but their heart is far from Him (Matthew 15:8).  They worship the Lord AND serve their own gods.

Sadly, pride has taken them to a place where they believe the Lord will not deliver them unto Satan for the destruction of their flesh (1 Corinthians 5:5-6) because of their position in the church.  The Lord will never abandon us when we are serving HIM seeking His Will and learning HIS statutes according to the Word of God…not methods of man from the vanities of man’s mind or the latest fad.  The Lord can not abide in sin.  God will not abide in those who worship Him and serve others…just ask Israel.

“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11.

If we have not received the love of the Truth, the Lord will see to it that we get what we seek…a strong delusion.

“Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5.

We should all examine ourselves.  Have we received the love of the Truth according to the Word of God?  Is Jesus Christ the source and His Cross the means by which we overcome the world, the flesh and the devil?  Are we worshipping the Lord and serving another?  Prayerfully consider.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11.

-Donna Clark Warren

“15 Wherefore I (Apostle Paul) also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the Saints,

“⁷ Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost says, To day if you will hear His Voice,

⁸ Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

⁹ When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My Works forty years.

¹⁰ Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known My Ways.

¹¹ So I sware in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest.)

¹² Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

¹³ But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:7-13

Many are decieved because they listen to counselors who recieve their information from the vanities of their own minds or demon spirits.  Israel challenged the Lord to make them a table in the dessert and when He did, they decided Pharoah’s was better and sought to make a capain and return to Egypt (Numbers 14:3-4).  They did, as many continue to do, err in their heart because they follow the statutes of the heathen (the ways of the world) and do not know the ways of God.

Instead of believing God to deliver us out of the wilderness, we err in our hearts and seek the ways of the world.  We seek worldly means to obtain love, joy and peace in our life by compromising with the world instead of coming out from among the world.  The Lord did not come to bring peace, He IS peace (Luke 12:51).  We do not know love, joy or peace until we learn to rest IN Him…His Yoke is easy.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2.

It is only by faith (by belief) in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ as the source and Calvary’s Cross as the means by which we may be saved and given dominion over sin.  When our faith is placed solely and exclusively in what Jesus Christ did on the Cross for whosoever will believe, the Holy Spirit is commissioned to isolate our sin nature (which we were all born with due to Adam’s fall) and give us dominion over sin.

“³ And wherefore has the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

⁴ And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”  Numbers 14:3-4

Friend, if our faith isn’t in Christ Jesus for our deliverance from the wilderness…if we look back to the world and declare it’s table better, we are bound by the law of sin and death.

Religion will offer many methods to overcome, overthrow and cast out the unpleasant circumstances in which we may find ourselves.  Many of these methods will seem Scriptural but were not and are not given to overcome sin…and sin is the reason for the unpleasant circumstance, it may not necessarily be your sin but the sin in the world.  These are not the Ways of God but the ways of man…statutes of the heathen.

We are alive unto God through our faith in Jesus Christ, Who redeemed us to God as the Sacrificial Lamb of God on Calvary’s Cross.  Jesus Christ was resurrected on the third day and now sits at the Right Hand of God.  His redeeming work saves us from eternal damnation and gives us dominion over our sin nature.  This finished work of Jesus Christ is still and will always be God’s prescribed order for victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.  No schemes of man, no matter the religious spectacles, will give us dominion over sin.

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12

Do not depart from the Living God.  Be determined to know nothing else among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  There in lies the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

-Donna Clark Warren

“⁵ And the devil, taking Him (Jesus) up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

⁶ And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give You, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

⁷ If You therefore will worship me, all shall be Yours.

⁸ And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get you behind me, Satan: for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” Luke 4:5-8

Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness.  The devil took Jesus up into a high mountain and promised Him glory if He would worship him.

Often, on Sunday mornings the devil continues to lead people to high places, centers of idolatrous worship.  There they worship God and serve another gospel…another Jesus.  They serve a Jesus that condones homosexuality.  One who condones fornication.  Their Jesus requires 40 days of purpose or 21 days of fasting to overthrow that sin which so easily besets us.  Perhaps he, their Jesus, will urge us to partake in feasts, festivals or other traditions of man to become holy and righteous.  Allow me to remind you friend, the Word of God says if any man preaches another gospel, he is cursed (Galatians 1:8-9).

These high places serve Jesus Christ as the source and His Cross as the means by which we are saved but they also serve philosophies from the vanities of their minds.  These philosophies require you as the source and their method as the means by which victory is received.  According to their philosophies, that which oppresses you was not nailed to Jesus’ Cross, so you must do your part to overthrow the sinful acts.

It is written, we shall worship the Lord our God and Him ONLY shall we serve.

“And He (Jesus) 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.

Friend, Jesus didn’t say follow various methods and schemes of man.  Our Lord said follow HIM.  God didn’t say  worship Him and serve vanities of man’s mind for victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. Jesus said follow Me and I will make you fishers of man (Matthew 4:19). He said if any man serve me, him will My Father honor (John 12:26).  Jesus said His sheep knows His voice and He knows us and we follow Him (John 10:27).

Lastly, Jesus said if any man does not take up his cross, which is the benefits and promises of all Christ afforded us on Calvary’s Cross, we are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:38).

“² Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

³ For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Philippians 3:2-3.

Beware of dogs my friends.  They will lead you up to high places and seduce you toworship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob while also serving other gods.  Too often these gods can only be found in the mirror.  They are believed to have much power, glory, holiness and righteousness to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil.  These gods stand in the temple and declare their righteousness relative to the publicans unrighteousness (Luke 18:9-14).

We must deny these gods, pick up our cross and follow Jesus.

-Donna Clark Warren

“⁷ For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

⁸ And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.” 2 Kings 17:7-8.

The children of Israel had sinned against the Lord Who delivered them from Egyptian captivity and feared other gods.  Many fear God but not enough to follow Him.  Instead of following the ways of God, the religious will take up the ways of the world…”the statutes of the heathen”.

“¹³ Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn you from your evil ways, and keep My Commandments and My Statutes, according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.

¹⁴ Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.” 2 Kings 17:13-14

The Lord sent His prophets to warn Israel and Judah but they hardened their hearts and did not listen to the word of the Lord.  God can deliver His Children into a position of victory or into the hands of our enemy.  Our obedience or disobedience to His Ways (not the statutes of heathen) is the determining factor.

“²³ Until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

²⁴ And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

²⁵ And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.

²⁶ Wherefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which you have removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore He has sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.”  2 Kings 17:24-26

The Israelites were carried away because they would not listen to the prophets of God and repent from following the statutes of the heathen…the ways of the world.  God’s people were removed from God’s land and the lions were sent by God as an instrument.  The people knew not the manner of the God of the land, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so they sent for a Priest who knew Jehovah to teach them His Statutes.

^“27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the Priests whom you brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

²⁸ Then one of the Priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

²⁹ Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.

³⁰ And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

³¹ And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

³² So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

³³ They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.” 2 Kings 17:27-33.

The Israelites feared the Lord AND served their own gods.  Their worship to God did not include obedience to God.

^“34 Unto this day they do after the former manners (feared the Lord and served their own gods): they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;

³⁵ With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

³⁶ But the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out Arm, Him shall you fear, and Him shall you worship, and to Him shall you do sacrifice.

³⁷ And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do for evermore; and you shall not fear other gods.

³⁸ And the Covenant (Exodus 19:5-8) that I have made with you you shall not forget; neither shall you fear other gods.

³⁹ But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

⁴⁰ Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.

⁴¹ So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.”  2 Kings 17:34-41.

My question to the modern church is this; howbeit you do not hearken but continue to do after the former manner?  Howbeit you continue to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob AND follow the statutes of the heathen?  Howbeit?

All of the statutes of the Law have been kept in Christ Jesus Who obeyed them perfectly.  Simple faith in Him and what He did on Calvary’s Cross automatically fulfills the commands of the Mosaic Law.  Howbeit the modern church worships Him and follows 40 days of purpose?  Howbeit God is worshipped and 12 steps to recovery is followed?  Howbeit the modern church worships Jehovah God and partakes in the statutes of the world?  Howbeit?

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-2.

-Donna Clark Warren

Reference: The Expositor’s Study Bible by Jimmy Swaggart.  2 Kings 17:1-41

“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”  Philippians 3:2-3

True biblical circumcision is one of the heart.  This circumcision of the heart happens when Jesus writes His Laws on our heart and puts them into our mind.  This supernatural circumcision occurs when we are born again; when God becomes OUR God and we become His Children.  (Hebrews 8:10).  True biblical circumcision does not involve Jewish traditions, festivals or feasts.  Nor does is it coerce one to wear prayer shawls or yamakas.

“⁶ As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in Him:

⁷ Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

⁸ Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

⁹ For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

¹⁰ And you are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power:

¹¹ In Whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

¹² Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, Who has raised Him from the dead.” Colossians 2:6-12

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. Therefore, at Salvation we are baptized into His death and as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) through the faith of the operation of God…the power of God.  Jesus Christ is the Source and Calvary’s Cross the Means by which the power of God was and is freely given to whosoever will believe.  It is this same faith, faith in Jesus Christ as our Source and His Cross the Means, by which we overcome the sin that so easily besets us DAILY.

Prayer shawls will not overthrow sin.  12 steps will not overthrow sin.  40 days of purpose will not overthrow sin.  You get the picture.  There is but one answer given to man to overcome sin and that is Jesus Christ and what He did on Calvary’s Cross.  It is our faith, our “faith of the operation of God” that allows the Holy Spirit to free us from the law of sin and death.  Our faith in Christ Jesus allows us to walk after the Holy Spirit, not our ceremonies, not the way we dress during worship.

Our faith can move mountains.  It can tear down strong holds.  Our faith can set us free from the world, the flesh and the devil.  BUT it is not the amount of our faith but the OBJECT  of our faith – Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  When our faith in Jesus Christ reaches the throne room of God and touches His garment, God the Father perceives the virtue which flows from Jesus into our hearts (Luke 8:46).  Our hearts are circumcised without hands.  We are compelled to render our flesh helpless (deny ourselves), pick up the virtue which flowed freely into our hearts by the operation of God and FOLLOW Him – follow Jesus Christ.  These things do not happen by the law but by faith through Grace – by faith in the operation of God through the power of God – faith in Jesus Christ and His redeeming work on Calvary’s Cross.

“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”  Philippians 3:2-3

Beware of evil workers.  Worship God in spirit and in truth.  Rejoice in Christ Jesus..and again I say rejoice.

-Donna Clark Warren

“³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

⁴ (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”  2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

The weapons of our warfare to the pulling down of strong holds are mighty THROUGH God.  Our carnal mind is opposed to God (Romans 8:6-8).

As a Believer we must reject the vain imaginations and high things that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.  We must meditate in God’s precepts and have respect for His Ways (Psalms 119:15).  One cannot know the ways of the Lord unless we study His Word.  With every vain imagination we must carefully consider God’s ways, His precepts, before choosing whether to cast it down or exalt it above His Word…and choose wisely we must.  This choice may seem obvious, as it should, but when that loved one has a good excuse for their sin, whatever that sin may be, we too often exalt that excuse above God’s precept and compromise with their sinful lifestyle.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:1-2.

Once we choose to cast it down, once we lay aside the sin which so easily besets us and look to Jesus Christ to author and finish our faith…HE will pull down that strong hold through the power of God which IS His Cross (1 Corinthians 1:18).  Jesus is the Source and His Cross is the means by which the strong hold is destroyed.  When we reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin and alive unto God (Romans 6:11) through the atoning Blood of Jesus Christ our deliverance will come…precept upon precept, line upon line our faith is authored and finished through faith in Jesus.

The word of faith doctrine will tell you it is up to you to break that strong hold.  They will present many philosophical methods to break the bondage…some of them will even be Scriptural (fasting, reading the Bible, even communion has been given as an answer to bondage).  When we do our part to overthrow that strong hold, again even the most Scriptural doctrines, we are bound by the law of sin and death.

No matter how many times we cast it down, and through faith in and because of Jesus’ atoning work on Calvary’s Cross to give us dominion over that very thing that is so easily besetting us,  we KEEP casting it down.  We bring our thoughts and vain imaginations into the obedience of Christ as we continue to fight the good fight of faith, faith in Jesus Christ and HIS finished work on Calvary’s Cross to give us dominion over that sin.

The power of God which will pull down that strong hold is the Cross of Christ…not “your part”.  Your part is faith, faith in the One Who made a show of every demon in hell to give us dominion over the world, the flesh and the devil.

Wisdom of words and philosophies of man, no matter how religious they may sound, will not and cannot break bondages.  If reading the Bible and fasting could overthrow sin, as Scriptural as those doctrines are, Jesus Christ would not have had to go to Calvary’s Cross to give us dominion over sin.  I speak here of Sanctification, not Salvation.  The Word of God says sin no longer has dominion over us because we are under Grace, not under Law (Romans 6:14).  We either reckon that to be true or we reckon that to be a lie.

If we reckon that sin no longer has dominion over us to be true, yet the strong hold remains what we don’t do is listen to the lies of the devil.  We don’t believe the lies that God will not deliver, that God must not love us, we must “do our part” or we don’t have “enough” faith.  Cain did his part and it revealed his pride.  It is not the amount of our faith but the Object of our faith that gives us dominion over sin and we fight the fight of faith DAILY…faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  It is then and only then that the Holy Spirit is commissioned to free us from the law of sin and death.

“¹⁷ For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

¹⁸ For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the Power of God.”  1 Corinthians 1:17-18.

Recognize the difference in philosophies of man to overcome sin and the Power of God to overcome sin.  One is from the vanities of man’s mind and the other is the message of the Cross of Christ and what He there did to give the Believer dominion over the sin which so easily besets us and pay our sin debt to God so that the world through Him might be saved. Look to Him, Jesus Christ – the Author and Finisher of your faith and cast down the philosophies of men which make the Cross of Christ of none effect.

-Donna Clark Warren