THE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE -- Tomorrow:
"But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor 3:15-18, KJV)
Devotion 17 of 33
" . . . and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
The liberty that is found "where the Spirit of the Lord is" has two sides.
First, it is release from bondage to sin, which was heightened by the Law. As it is written, "the strength of sin is the Law" (1 Cor 15:56). That is, the Law brought out the hostility and enmity against God that existed in fallen humanity.
Second, it promotes the freedom that allows the individual to draw nigh unto God – something that the Law strictly forbade. Now, those in the New Covenant are told, "Let us DRAW NEAR with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb 10:22).
In a stirring contrast of the New Covenant with the Old Covenant the Spirit affirms, "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we DRAW NIGH unto God" (Heb 7:19). Again it is written, "DRAW NIGH to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded" (James 4:8).
A telling sign of vain religion is aloofness from God. If it is true that Jesus is bringing us to God (1 Pet 3:18), and that we have been "made nigh" by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13), what must be said of an approach to spiritual life that leave the people at distance from God – unacquainted with His ways, undevoted to Him, and without an appetite for the truth? Such conditions betray estrangement from God, not reconciliation to Him.
The freedom realized in Christ Jesus involves release from servitude to sin, and free access to God. All spiritual advance requires that these two factors be present.
1. We are free to resist the devil (James 4:7).
2. We are free to put on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:11).
3. We are free to put to death our members that are upon the earth (Col 3:5).
4. We are free to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul (1 Pet 2:11).
5. We are free to obtain grace to help in the time of need (Heb 4:16).
6. We are free to draw nigh unto God (James 4:8).
7. We are free to perfect holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor 7:1).
If these things are not found in those who are "in Christ Jesus," it is certainly not because they are not free to do them. If they have been freed from the hold of the devil, it cannot be that they are still bound by him! If Satan has gained control over them again, it is only because they have made a place for him, not taking advantage of their freedom in Christ!
No one comes into Christ under the control of the devil – no one. Satan cannot overpower a person who has really been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Col 1:13). The only way he can dominate such soul is to lure them away from Christ and into the flesh. Those who would have us believe that demons can control the child of God against his will have only betrayed their ignorance. Regeneration does not produce vassals for the devil! It rather liberates and frees the believer. If that freedom is destroyed, an "evil heart of unbelief" (Heb 3:12) has been welcomed by the individual. Such a person is not a victim at all. They are one who has willingly walked out of the domain of freedom into the flesh, from which they were once delivered. They have ceased to believe, refused to mortify their members that are upon the earth, and failed to resist the devil. All of this has occurred because they have chosen to live at a distance from the Lord, thereby repudiating the freedom that is in Christ Jesus.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for a freedom Satan cannot neutralize.