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Law + Works + Grace = ?

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The stories we tell ourselves shape our lives.

For example, if you buy into a narrative that says, “The Bible is a book of rules we must obey,” you will find laws to obey on every page.

If you believe, “The Bible teaches us to work for God’s favor,” you will find long lists of things to do.

But read the Bible with mindset of grace, and you will get a completely different picture. You will see what Christ has done your behalf, and how you can reign in life by receiving his abundant grace.

Law, works, or grace. Which narrative are you following?

This is an important question when reading a book like James, because James writes about law AND works AND grace. All three are in his letter.

If you did not know any better, you might think that James was saying you need law plus works plus grace. A little bit of each gives you a healthy balance.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mixing law, works, and grace is like mixing medicines. Or powerful chemicals. It’s a bad idea. In the new covenant, we are under grace, not law (Rom. 6:14–15). The law is good, but it’s no good for the believer (1 Tim. 1:9).

Yet virtually every book and sermon I have read or heard on James preaches mixture. “You need a little law + a little grace + a lot of works,” and the result is confusion and dead works.

Let me give you some examples:

  • Most commentators say James wrote to Christians, yet in places James calls his readers sinners, adulterers, and friends of the world. He says things like, “you commit murder” (Jas. 4:2). Strong words. You are not an adulterous murderer, are you? Yes, James wrote for believers, but he also wrote for unbelievers. (He says so in chapter 1.) One letter, two messages, and if you don’t know which is which you’ll be confused.
  • James said no one can tame the tongue (Jas. 3:8). It’s impossible. Yet many commentators say things like, “Watch your words and tame your tongue.” They contradict James and promote dead works. We don’t need to try harder, we need a new heart and a new tongue.
  • James wrote about a crown of life. Those who preach works dangle that crown like a carrot. “Endure trials and earn that crown.” But James says the crown is given to those who love the Lord (Jas. 1:12). It’s a gift, not a reward. Big difference.
  • The most famous scripture in James is “faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:17). The works preachers love this verse, while faith preachers are left wringing their hands in confusion. “James is talking about works of service,” they say. Or “this isn’t a salvation issue.” Yet the context is clearly salvation (Jas. 2:14), justification (Jas. 2:21, 24–25), and being made right with God (Jas 2:23). Either way, you better get busy for Jesus. Which means faith = works. Apparently.

See the problem? Read James with anything other than a grace lens and you’ll come away condemned and confused. You will think we need a little law and a lot of works to supplement God’s grace:

  • You will watch every word lest you complain and come under judgment (Jas. 5:9).
  • You will feel a need to work to prove that your faith is not useless (Jas. 2:20).
  • You will think that God’s forgiveness is conditional and you need to confess your sins to get it (Jas. 5:15–16).

Or…

You could ditch those mixed-up messages and get yourself a grace-based commentary that reveals the “greater grace” of God that runs all through James’ letter (Jas. 4:6).

Just saying.

My new book The Grace Bible: James has just been released. It is 100% grace based guaranteed.

The Grace Bible: James will help you find the gold that is in James’ letter, and will protect you from toxic mixture. It is available now on Amazon and other good booksellers.

The Study Bible You’ve Been Waiting For

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Do you know how to use a Bible commentary? A commentary is a kind of explainer. It tells you what the scriptures mean.

Or to be precise, it tells you what the commentator thinks they mean.

Which means if your commentary was written by someone with an old covenant mindset, you’ll get an old covenant interpretation of the Bible.

Since I read the Bible through a grace lens, readers have long been asking me to write a Bible commentary. For years I said no. Who’s got that kind of time?

But then I realized that I have been writing a commentary all along. I just didn’t know it. So I took my disparate articles, notes and books and organized them into an online tool called The Grace Commentary.

The Grace Commentary is a useful tool, but some people want a physical book they can mark, highlight and giveaway.

Enter, the Grace Bible.

The first installment (1–3 John & Jude) came out last year, and the second installment (1–2 Peter) was released this Easter. But the book I most wanted to write was the third installment: The Grace Bible: James.

It has just been released.

Why am I excited about The Grace Bible: James? Because James may be the most misunderstood book in the Bible.

Faith plus works? Did James understand grace? Should his book even be in the cannon?

I am convinced that James understood grace as well as anyone. James wrote so that we might have a revelation of “the greater grace” of God. But you might not see the grace in James, especially if you are using an old covenant commentary.

The Grace Bible: James could be the most important book I’ve written and I am super excited to share it with you.

If you have trouble seeing the grace in James, I encourage you to get The Grace Bible: James today.

“The Grace Bible is a breath of fresh air and a MUST for every pastor and believer in rightly dividing scripture.” – Ben Dailey, lead pastor, Calvary Church, Irving, TX

One more thing. I have heard people say they will wait until the entire Grace Bible series is finished and then get the whole book. This is a mistake. At this stage, I have no plans to do the entire New Testament.

Each book in the Grace Bible series is a standalone title. If you only get one book, get The Grace Bible: James.

If you get James, you’ll get grace. If you don’t, you won’t.

The Grace Bible: James is available now in paperback, hardcover, and various ebook formats. A sample chapter and endorsements can be found on the Grace Bible website.

What’s With the Head Coverings?

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When I wrote my book about women in the church, my aim was to examine every verse that has been hijacked to oppress and silence women.

I wanted to show that contrary to what many of us have heard, woman are in no way inferior to men. In the new covenant of grace, women can preach, teach, and lead, and do anything God calls them to do.

But there was one verse I could not explain:

Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head…. (1 Corinthians 11:10a)

In context, Paul is talking about head coverings (scarves?). He says women who pray or prophesy in church with uncovered heads are showing disgrace to their heads (their husbands?). Their behavior is so shameful, says Paul, they might as well go the whole way and shave their heads (1 Cor. 11:5).

Whew.

When I wrote my book, I didn’t know what Paul was talking about. But plenty of people have offered their opinions. “Women wear head scarves to show they’re in submission to male authority,” says one scholar. “It is the will of God that the woman know her place,” says another.

Which doesn’t sound like anything Paul would say. Why would the apostle who wrote “there is neither male nor female in Christ” (Gal. 3:28) turn around and say women are subservient to men?

Something doesn’t add up.

There’s quite a lot going on with the head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11 so I will skip the details here and focus on verse ten. If you want to go deeper, check out the relevant entries in the Grace Commentary.

Sex in the city

As always, context matters. First-century Corinth was a hotbed of sexually immorality. The city had several pagan temples including the infamous Temple of Aphrodite Porne (“Aphrodite of the Prostitutes”). The city had a promiscuous culture, so we can perhaps understand why sexual immorality had infiltrated the church (1 Cor. 5:1).

The world has not changed much. Every day we are bombarded with offerings to the goddess of erotica. Like the Corinthians, we all face sexual temptation. And like them, we need to learn how to deal with it.

Imagine you were the apostle Paul teaching the Corinthians how to deal with sexual temptation. What would you say? If you were a law-lover, you might write, “You should not even think about sinning lest you incur the wrath of God.”

Or you might say, “It is a sin to talk to or even look at a woman,” which is what some of the religious Jews believed. If they saw a woman in the street, they’d shut their eyes. For this reason they became known as “bruised and bleeding Pharisees” on account of all the posts and doors they walked into.

But Paul does not say anything like this. He doesn’t hit the Corinthians with laws or restrictions. Instead, he writes:

Because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. (1 Corinthians 7:2)

The key word in this verse is have. Husbands and wives are supposed to have each other. Do you understand? Look at how the verse appears in the Passion Translation:

Because of the danger of immorality, each husband should have sexual intimacy with his wife and each wife should have sexual intimacy with her husband. (1 Cor. 7:2, TPT)

Because there was so much illicit sex going on, the Corinthians asked Paul if they should practice celibacy (see 1 Cor. 7:1). He had a better idea. “Sex is good, provided you do it God’s way.”

A Christian marriage is a treasure worth protecting. When two people who are each living from their union with the Lord come together in marriage, the result is heaven on earth. Nothing in the diseased temples of Corinth or the dark corners of the internet can compare with that.

Which brings us to the head coverings.

The significance of head coverings

The custom in Corinth was for married women to cover their heads. So a married woman who removed her head covering in a public place was like a man or woman who removes their wedding ring before going into a bar. It’s not a good look. It sends a solicitous message.

It’s like throwing a hand grenade into your marriage.

Paul called them out. “If you are going to remove your head covering, you might as well shave your head” (1 Cor. 11:6). In other words, if you’re going to act like a prostitute, you might as well look like a prostitute.

When Paul says “the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head,” he is not saying women are subservient to men. He’s saying, “Honor your marriage.” In context, he’s reminding them what he said earlier to husbands and wives:

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. (1 Corinthians 7:4)

The body of a married women is under the authority of her husband, just as his body is under her authority. In other words, she belongs to him and he belongs to her. As the Shulammite said, “My beloved is mine and I am his” (Song of Solomon 2:16).

Put it altogether and Paul is saying something like this:

If you are married, don’t act like you are single. You are part of a one-flesh team. To disrespect the symbols of your union, whether they are scarves, rings, or something else, is to disrespect your marriage partner, mislead others, and diminish one of God’s great gifts.

Marriage should be honored by all and especially by those who are married.

—

The 3rd installment of The Grace Bible comes out at the end of May. It is available for pre-order on Kindle. Patrons can get the book here.

“You Shall Surely Die”

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Once upon a time you were spiritually dead. Then you met Jesus and now you are spiritually alive.

Or so the story goes.

Like many religious phrases the idea that we were spiritually dead makes sense until you start asking questions like “what is spiritual death?” and “why isn’t spiritual death mentioned in the Bible?”

What does it mean to be dead spiritually? And where does this idea come from?

It comes from something God said to Adam in the Garden:

From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:17)

God told Adam that if he ate from the forbidden tree, he would die the same day. But Adam didn’t die, at least not straight away. He lived for hundreds of years and had lots of children (Gen. 5:4–5).

So how do we explain God’s warning?

“Since Adam didn’t die physically, he must have died spiritually.”

Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom. Makes perfect sense. Hand me a theological degree because I just solved the problem. But did I? What exactly is spiritual death?

Spiritual death defined

Spiritual death means to be cut off or separated from God. “Those who are spiritually dead are dead to the things of God,” said the 19th-century Methodist minister Joseph Benson and many others. Apparently sinners cannot communicate with God.

Except Adam did. In fact, there is more evidence of God talking with Adam after he sinned than before.

God also spoke with Adam’s murderous son Cain and many of his other descendants (e.g., Job, Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc.). The Old Testament is a record of God talking and dealing with people who were supposed to be spiritually dead.

Because I’m a curious sort of person, I did a bit of digging into the meaning of spiritual death. I went looking for a definition that fitted with scripture. Guess what. I couldn’t find one. Instead, I found a lot of sloppy exegesis, like this:

“God walked with Adam in the cool of the evening but after Adam sinned that didn’t happen anymore.”

Actually, the only mention of God walking in the garden came after Adam sinned (Gen. 3:8).

“Adam was filled with the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit left him after he sinned leaving Adam spiritually disconnected and spiritually dead.”

There is not one bit of evidence that the Holy Spirit indwelled anyone before the Day of Pentecost and plenty to suggest that he didn’t (Luke 24:49, John 7:39, 16:7). If the Holy Spirit left us when we sinned, Christians would be in trouble. Happily, the Holy Spirit never abandons us (John 14:16, Heb. 13:5).

“God drove Adam and Eve out from his presence.”

Again, that’s not true. God did drive the first couple out of the Garden of Eden, but he went with them and continued to talk with them and their children. God did not wash his hands of these sinners or drive them from his presence.

It’s true that killer Cain went out from the presence of the Lord (Gen. 4:16), but he left God; God didn’t leave him.

“Spiritual death means Adam acquired a sinful nature which he passed on to his offspring.”

This is Augustine’s doctrine of original sin, another religious idea that is not supported by scripture. Adam’s transgression condemned him and his offspring (see Rom. 5:12-19), but it did not give him horns, a tail, or a sin gene to pass onto his children. Your sinful nature – when you had one – was acquired, not inherited, the result of living in a world held captive by sin.

What really happened to Adam?

What did God mean when he told Adam “in the day that you eat from it you will surely die”?

This is an easy question because God answered it. If we want to know what happened to Adam, we only need to hear the sentence of death that was pronounced on the day he sinned:

By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:19)

To return to the dust from whence you came describes physical death, not spiritual death. God said Adam’s body would end up in the ground and that’s what happened.

God warned Adam, “You shall surely die.” This phrase appears repeatedly in the Bible, and every time it refers to physical death (e.g., Gen. 20:7, Num. 26:65, 2 Kgs. 1:4). It has nothing to do with spiritual death, whatever that may be.

But what about when God says “in the day that you eat from it you will surely die”? That sounds like Adam would die the same day. In a manner of speaking he did. From the moment Adam ate the fruit, he began to die.

“You will surely die” can be read as “dying you will die” and Adam began dying that very day. The moment he said yes to sin, he entered death row and life as he knew it was over.

But don’t take my word for it. Let scripture interpret scripture.

Learning from Shimei

There is a story in the Bible that illuminates the surely-die passage. It is the story of a rebel called Shimei, a relative of King Saul, who became embittered after David ascended to the throne.

Shimei created trouble for the House of David and Solomon knew that he had to keep the troublemaker on a short leash. King Solomon warned Shimei to confine himself to Jerusalem. The king said that if he ever left the city, his life would be forfeit.

For on the day you go out and cross over the brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head. (1 Kings 2:37)

Note Solomon’s choice of words: on the day… you shall surely die. It’s the same warning that God gave to Adam.

And like Adam, Shimei didn’t listen.

After a couple of his slaves ran away, Shimei left the city and pursued them halfway across the country. When Shimei eventually returned to Jerusalem, Solomon had him executed just as he promised.

Shimei did not literally die on the day he broke parole, just as Adam did not literally die on the day he ate from the forbidden tree. But like Adam, his life was forfeit on the day that he sinned.

What did Paul say?

No one wrote more about the consequences of Adam’s offence than the apostle Paul, and Paul never mentioned spiritual death. Not once. “The wages of sin is death,” he said, not spiritual death, but the real, final death that closes the curtain on life (Rom. 6:23).

When Paul said, “through one man sin entered into the world… and so death spread to all men” (Rom. 5:12), he meant Adam’s transgression brought death and condemnation to us all (Rom. 5:18).

Adam put humanity on death row.

When Paul said “you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Eph. 2:1), he meant you were doomed to die on account of sin. And when he said “you were made alive with Christ” (Eph. 2:5), he meant you now have everlasting life through Christ Jesus (John 3:15–16, 5:24).

“In Adam, all die” (1 Cor. 15:22). That’s the bad news. The good news is that in Christ all will be made alive.

Spiritual death sounds Biblical but isn’t. (Click on the Table below for a larger version.) It conveys the impression that unbelievers are spiritually numb and incapable of communicating with God. But if that were true, how could anyone repent? How could anyone pray the Sinner’s Prayer?

The Bible never says that natural man is spiritually dead. Instead it says he lacks fellowship with the Lord (1 John 1:3), is alienated in his mind (Col. 1:3), and excluded from the life of God (Eph. 4:18).

His spirit is very much alive, it’s just not connected to the Spirit of God (John 3:5, Rom. 8:9).

Dumb things we say in church

Spiritual death, like original sin, is one of those religious phrases we should stop using. To say unbelievers suffer from spiritual death is to minimize all that Jesus did for us.

Jesus does not deliver us from some half-baked version of death that no one understands; he delivered us from real, final, pushing-up-daisies death. He did this by giving us a brand new life, one that does not end in death.

If you have been joined to the Lord you have everlasting life and a hundred blessings besides. In fellowship with the Lord, you have been made a partaker of his divine life.

With the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide and keep you, you have it far better than Adam ever did.

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Extracted and adapted from Paul’s new book, Original Sin: What Does the Bible Really Say? available now on Patreon.

Is it God’s Will for You to Suffer (1 Peter 4:19)

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“Paul, why are you writing a Bible commentary? There are so many.”

It’s true. There are many Bible commentaries out there. But as far as I know, there are no grace-based commentaries. Instead, there are commentaries that mix grace with works leaving you confused, anxious, and uncertain.

Let me give you an example:

Those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19)

What does it mean to suffer according to the will of God? Your answer to that question reveals whether you are established in grace.

Read the verse in context and we’ll see that the suffering Peter is talking about is the fiery ordeal of persecution (1 Pet. 4:12). He’s writing to believers who were enduring a painful and unjust trial because they were Christians.

Some lost their property, while others lost their lives. And apparently this was God’s will. God was behind their suffering.

Or was he.

Any time we go through trials and hardships, we may be tempted to ask, “Lord, why are you doing this to me? Do you want me to suffer? Is this your will?”

These are weighty questions that deserve serious answers. So we turn to our favorite study Bible or commentary to unpack this verse and this is what we find:

  • Some commentators, like Matthew Henry, say “All the sufferings that befall good people come upon them according to the will of God.” So yes, it is God’s will for you to suffer.
  • Others write lengthy essays that say nothing of substance.
  • A few change Peter’s words or they wriggle out of answering the question.

Depending on who you read, you will come away feeling either confused, really confused, or condemned. You certainly won’t find any comfort.

I know this because I have read many books and commentaries on the passage above and NOT ONE of them did anything to encourage or strengthen my faith. The consensus seems to be that God either wants you to suffer or he allows it because he’s mysterious and sovereign and his ways are higher than your ways.

It makes me shake my head.

Let me put your mind at ease right now: It is NOT God’s will for you to suffer, be persecuted, or mistreated for being a Christian. Peter says no such thing.

Let’s take a closer look at his words:

Those who suffer according to the will of God…

The key phrase here is the will of God, which is one of Peter’s favorite phrases. He uses it repeatedly. He says the will of God is for you to walk in newness of life by putting your faith in his Son Jesus (1 Pet. 4:2, 6).

To suffer for the will of God is to suffer for being a Christian. That’s it. Peter says so three verses earlier:

If anyone suffers as a Christian… (1 Peter 4:16)

To suffer according to the will of God is to be persecuted for your faith. It’s being bullied because you are in the will of God. So obviously God is not the one persecuting you. A just God cannot inflict unjust suffering.

This is obvious, right? Yet many who should know better don’t see it. They wring their hands and say a lot of nonsense that is baloney at best and blasphemy at worst.

Can you imagine Jesus throwing stones at Stephen or flogging Paul? It’s ridiculous. So why do we listen to those who suggest this sort of suffering is the Father’s will?

Let’s look at the next part of that verse:

…entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19)

If you are going through hard times on account of your faith, you can trust the Creator because he is faithful. He will never leave you or let you down. That’s good news to encourage you.

Now we come to the final part:

…in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19)

In the old covenant, doing right meant keeping the rules, but in the new covenant doing right is what we do when we’re living in right relationship with the faithful Creator. It’s putting your faith in the Son of God and living in submission to the will of God.

Right believing leads to right living. When your heart is settled in the faithfulness of God, you will live righteously without any conscious effort. The Righteous One will fill your heart with his righteous desires and bear his righteous fruit in your life.

Put it altogether and Peter is saying something like this:

If you are following God and suffering for it, keep trusting him. He will never fail you. Keep walking in the light of his love and grace.

Peter’s first epistle, when read through the lens of the new covenant, is a huge source of encouragement for the afflicted. It is God’s gift to the persecuted believer, and one of the most incredible letters ever written.

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If you liked this, you will love The Grace Bible: 1–2 Peter. Available now.

Do we need a New Covenant Study Bible?

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The Bible contains the most beautiful, life-giving words. Yet many don’t see them because they’re reading scripture through the wrong lens. Consider the following verse:

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth… (1 Peter 1:17)

What does that verse mean? Many people have no idea. Or rather, they have the wrong idea because they have been raised with a mindset that says you have to perform and produce to please the Father.

Do you know what that verse means? Maybe you see three words – judges, work, and fear – and come to all sorts of scary conclusions.

“It sounds like there’s some kind of judgment coming so I’d better work hard and be afraid for as long as I live.”

Which sounds horrible. That can’t be right. Can it?

You reach for your nearest study Bible or commentary and find that, no, you’re on the money.

“God is scary, so watch yourself.”

No, no, no! Change your lens. Stop reading the Bible through an old covenant lens of rules and behavior, and put on your new covenant glasses.

If there was such a thing as a new covenant study Bible, it would highlight one word in the passage above: Father.

If you address as Father…

Do you address God as Father? I hope so because God is your heavenly Father. Jesus said so.

But do you believe it? Do you actually call God Father?

Perhaps you don’t think of God in such familiar terms. If you have been raised with an old covenant emphasis on performance, you might see God as a bookkeeper recording your sins or a judge condemning your failures.

In the old covenant, no one addressed the Almighty as Father. But after Jesus, every New Testament writer did.

Calling God Father is what makes the new covenant new.

“But what about the part where it says we are judged for our work?”

Jesus said the only work that impresses God the Father is the “work” of believing in the One he sent (John 6:29). We are judged by our response to Jesus. Did we trust him? Did we rest in his finished work or rely on our own dead works? That sort of thing.

“But if God is our Father, why do we need to conduct ourselves in fear?”

In the new covenant, the fear of God means living in reverence and awe of God. To fear the Lord is to worship him.

Put it altogether and Peter is saying, “If you know God as your heavenly Father, let your conduct on earth be your spiritual act of worship.”

In other words, live in response to the goodness of God. Which is so much better than that scary interpretation.

Read Peter’s letter from cover to cover and you will find that it is full of reasons for worshipping the God we know as Father. We worship the Lord because:

  • he redeemed us from bondage with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18–19)
  • he has given us rebirth through imperishable seed into new life (1 Pet. 1:23)
  • he has sanctified us by his Spirit (1 Pet. 1:2)
  • he is reserving for us an eternal inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4)
  • he protects us with his mighty power (1 Pet. 1:5)

And that’s just chapter 1! Peter’s two epistles ring with praise to the Lord and all that he has done for us.

If you liked this, you will love The Grace Bible: 1–2 Peter. It’s just been released. Check out the Grace Bible website for details.

How to Test the Spirits

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Spirit, soul, and body – do you know the difference?

Your spirit is that inner part of you that connects you to the spiritual world; your body or flesh is that external part of you that connects you to the physical world; and your soul is that part of you that chooses whether you are going to walk after the spirit or the flesh.

Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Faith is the means by which we live the spiritual life. Or to put it another way, you cannot live the spiritual life by relying on your natural senses and abilities.

And if you want to walk in newness of life, the spirit comes first. This is why it is helpful to think of the spirit as an antenna that connects us to the spiritual realm. The spirit receives signals from the spiritual realm (e.g., the Holy Spirit) which it transmits to the soul, and the soul exercises the body in response to the spirit’s instruction.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. (1 John 4:1a)

Since our spirits can detect signals from any spiritual source, divine or demonic, we need to test the spirits to see if what we are hearing is from God.

For instance, if we find ourselves doubting what God has said and asking, “Did God really say?” we can be sure we are hearing from the demonic realm. Since God is unchanging, he will never contradict himself. So anything that causes you to question what God has said is not from the Holy Spirit.

A word from the devil

One of the sadder stories in the Bible concerns a man called Ananias. Ananias told a lie and died when Peter confronted him about it:

Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit …? (Acts 5:3)

The temptation to lie came from the father of lies. It did not come from the Spirit of Truth. Nor did it come from Ananias himself. “Satan filled your heart” means Satan fed him a lie and Ananias swallowed it.

He never tested the spirits.

Many outrageous claims come prefaced with the words, “God told me to…” Did he really? Are you certain? Or were you fed a lie?

“God told me to divorce my wife.” Are you sure about that?

“God told me to bet the farm on a suspect business dealing.” And how did that work out?

Growing up I had a friend who blossomed into a beautiful young woman. During her late teens and early twenties about a dozen men proposed to her saying, “God told me you were going to be my wife.”

Hmm. They couldn’t have all been right.

No doubt handsome young men have heard similar things from Christian women. “God told me you were going to be my husband.”

Playing the God-told-me-so card is one of the most dangerous things believer’s do. If you ever hear it, make sure you test the spirits to see whether it is actually from the Lord.

All sorts of ideas pass through our heads; some are good, others are not-so-good. We should not act on anything without first asking, is this from the Lord?

How do we test the spirits?

We test the spirits by asking questions:

  • Does this idea (or word or message or advice) encourage me to rely on the Lord or myself?
  • Does it feed my faith or my doubts?
  • Does it release freedom or bind me in chains?
  • Does it promote man’s agenda or bring glory to God?
  • Does it glorify Christ’s righteousness or my failures?
  • Does it fill me with peace or anxiety?
  • Does it have the stench of flesh or the fragrance of Jesus?

Ultimately the test is: who does it point me to? Origin determines destination. Any spirit from God, will lead you to God.

When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. (John 15:26)

If the message you are hearing causes you to look to Christ or rely on Christ, you can be sure that you are hearing from the Holy Spirit.

—–

Source: Spirit, Soul & Body: How to Walk in the Spirit, available now on Patreon.

How to Walk in the Spirit

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You were designed to be spiritual. You were created to walk in the spirit. Yet many people walk after the flesh. They make judgments based on what they hear, see, and understand, rather than listening to what their spirit is sensing the Lord is saying.

To be led by the Spirit is to live with our eyes fixed on the Lord. It’s looking to the Lord as our source and supply and asking, “What does God want? What does he say?” When we make this our habit, we are acting like mature sons of God.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

To follow the Spirit we need to sense the Spirit. How do we do that? The Bible provides numerous examples but in this article I will focus on just three ways we can sense the Spirit.

Troubled in the spirit

When Jesus had said this, he became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray me.” (John 13:21)

If you have ever known the stabbing pain of betrayal, you will know how Jesus felt when Judas betrayed him. The difference is that Jesus felt the sting of betrayal before he was betrayed.

His spirit was troubled because he knew what was coming.

To be troubled or agitated in your spirit is to know something is wrong even when everything appears normal.

Some might say “I felt a check in my spirit,” or “I was heading in a certain direction but stopped because something didn’t sit right inside.”

I have had many experiences like this, and I have learned that if your spirit is troubled or agitated, you need to pay attention. Especially if everything seems fine in the natural. If your spirit is sensing something is a little off, you would do well to heed it.

An example: Maybe you are considering an intern or job applicant who ticks all the boxes, but your spirit is troubled. Don’t hire them. Stop and pray. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom to know what to do.

Provoked in the spirit

Stronger than the feeling of being troubled is the sense of being provoked or distressed in our spirits.

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. (Acts 17:16)

In every city Paul visited there were idols and temples. But when he came to Athens, his spirit reacted with anger. “The longer Paul waited in Athens, the angrier he got – all those idols!” reads the Message Bible.

Idol worship destroys those Jesus loves, and this affected Paul so deeply that he preached one of his most memorable sermons (see Acts 17:22–31).

It would be nice to hear God speak in a burning bush, as Moses did. But sometimes he gives us a burning heart. God help me if I don’t speak up. That’s what Paul experienced in Athens.

Sometimes you hear or see something that doesn’t trouble anyone but you. This isn’t right. Something must be done.

I’m not talking about something that just makes you emotional and upset, but if there is some situation that troubles your spirit, that is a sign of spiritual significance. You need to bring that to the Lord.

“No rest for my spirit”

Another sign that something is off is we feel no peace. When Paul said “I had no rest for my spirit” (2 Cor. 2:13), he was saying he had no peace. For the spirit-filled believer, a loss of peace is a sure sign that all is not well.

This is a lesson I learned the hard way.

While we were living in Hong Kong, I convinced Camilla that I should buy a Honda Shadow 750 motorcycle. “We’ll go cruising down the highway just like old times.”

Camilla has ridden with me many times, but on this occasion she was unsettled. “I don’t have a peace about it.”

I dismissed her concerns – “You’re being a wet blanket” – and bought the motorbike.

A week later, we were cruising down the highway and livin’ the dream when we were hit from behind by a boy racer going 100+ miles an hour. His car and my bike were smashed to bits, and Camilla and I were sent flying.

I picked myself off the concrete and saw Camilla’s motionless body lying in the middle lane. For a long moment I was struck with the fear that she was dead and I had killed her. Miraculously, we survived but it was weeks before either of us could walk again.

I should’ve listened to my wife, because, unlike me, she was listening to her spirit.

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For more stories and tips on how to walk in the spirit, check out my new book, Spirit, Soul & Body: How to Walk in the Spirit, available now on Patreon.

What Does it Mean to be Spiritual?

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What comes to mind when you think of the word spiritual? In scripture, we are exhorted to desire spiritual gifts, sing spiritual songs, and pray spiritual prayers. We are to walk in the spirit and live a spiritual life.

Sounds good. But what does it mean?

Here’s what spiritual does NOT mean: Spiritual does not mean religious. Or pious. Manmade religion may stimulate your intellect and feed your flesh, but that doesn’t make it spiritual.

To define spiritual, it will help to know what your spirit is.

Your spiritual antenna

Your spirit is that part of you that makes you spiritually aware or God-conscious.

For want of a better analogy, your spirit is like an antenna. Just as our physical bodies connect us to the physical realm, our spirits connect us to the spiritual realm. Just as we have natural senses (sight, smell, hearing, etc.), we have spiritual senses (e.g., intuition).

Think of a television. Just as a television can detect signals from both terrestrial transmitters and heavenly satellites, our souls can sense physical things via our bodies and spiritual things via our spirits.

Now we begin to understand why Watchman Nee, in his seminal book The Spiritual Man, referred to the soul as the medium or the middle bit between the spirit and the body. The spirit receives signals from the spiritual realm (e.g., the Holy Spirit) which it transmits to the soul, and the soul exercises the body in response to the spirit’s instruction.

What does it mean to be spiritual?

The generic definition of spiritual is “having to do with the spiritual realm as opposed to the physical realm.” The spiritual realm includes God, the heavenly host, fallen angels, and the spirit of every person who ever lived. (The physical realm includes your body, the food you put in it, the bed you slept on, and the clothes you are wearing.) In a general sense, spiritual simply means of the spirit.

Yet there is another meaning of spiritual:

He who is spiritual appraises all things… (1 Corinthian 2:15)

In this context, a spiritual person is someone who has been born of the Spirit, has the Spirit of God, and is led by the Spirit (John 3:5, Rom. 8:9, 14). In contrast, an unspiritual person is someone who remains in the flesh or is walking after the flesh (Rom. 7:5, 8:4).

Some teachers, including Nee, would describe the latter person as soulish or soulical, as though to live by the soul was the opposite of walking in the spirit. A better adjective would be fleshly (e.g., 1 Cor. 3:3) or worldly (Jude 1:19).

The soul is neither fleshly nor spiritual; it is the chooser that decides how we will live. This may come as a shock, but you can be in the spirit (i.e., born again, in spiritual union with the Lord), but still walk in the old ways of the flesh.

Two ways to live

But I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

If you have not been born of the spirit, you cannot walk after the spirit. You can only walk after the flesh. But if you are in the spirit, you can choose to walk in the new way of the spirit or the old way of the flesh (Gal. 5:17).

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. (Romans 8:5).

The choice between the flesh and the spirit is not like choosing between two flavors of ice cream. It is a choice of life or death.

The way of the flesh leads us down a cursed path to self-destruction, but the way of the Spirit leads to a blessed and everlasting life (John 6:63, Rom. 8:13, Gal. 6:8).

For the believer, walking in the spirit is the life-giving choice. But the problem is we are much better at walking after the flesh. We’ve been doing it all our lives.

Nearly every movie we watch, every song we hear, every book we read, and even some sermons reinforce the old message of self-reliance. “Work harder. Trust yourself. Follow these steps to a better life.”

Our flesh responds with zeal but the result is sin and death. We try to fly but fall short again and again. Our flesh is incapable of living the spiritual life.

But just as we learned to walk in the natural, we can learn to walk in the spiritual.

Sure, there will be a few stumbles along the way and missteps are to be expected. But God does not condemn us when we fall. Our loving Father comes alongside us to guide us and help us soar.

Be encouraged. God is for you and by his grace you will learn how to walk in newness of life. And when you do – when you learn to rely on the spirit and distrust the flesh – you will have a good and blessed life.

The spiritual life is the life you were made for.

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Source: Spirit, Soul & Body: How to Walk in the Spirit, available now on Patreon.

Duck Church

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Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish existentialist, used to tell a story about Duck Church. It goes something like this:

Once upon a time there was a town of ducks. On Sunday morning all the ducks came waddling out of their houses and waddling into church where they squatted in their pews. After they sang their duck hymns and said their duck prayers, the duck minister began to preach. “Ducks, you were born to fly. God has given you wings to soar like eagles. Fly, ducks, fly!” This rousing message was met with cries of “Amen” and “Preach it!” After the service the ducks lined up to thank the minister for his inspiring message, and then they all waddled home.

Kierkegaard’s tale illustrates the difference between walking after the flesh and the spirit.

Do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. (Rom. 8:4b)

When we walk after the flesh, we are like ducks waddling through life. We were made for more than this. God gave us spirits so that we might soar like eagles. Problem is, we don’t know how.

Occasionally we’ll hear an inspiring message. “Saints, God has given you spirits so you can rule and reign with him.”

We shout “Amen” and “Preach it!” But we don’t know how to fly so we waddle home and nothing changes.

I have been to Duck Church, or something like it. I have heard countless sermons on how to walk in the spirit and while many of them were inspiring, few of them were practical.

It’s good to be inspired, but inspiration without application leads to frustration. For that reason I have written an ebook to help you experience the spiritual life. It’s called Spirit, Soul & Body: How to Walk in the Spirit, and it is available now on Patreon.

If you are not a patron, fear not. I plan to release some extracts from the book here on E2R. Here’s the first one:

A new covenant temple of the Holy Spirit

Don’t you know you are the temple of God and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16).

To walk in the spirit we need to understand the relationship between the spirit, soul, and body. God’s temple serves as a metaphor. As God dwelled in the temple of Jerusalem, God dwells in you.

The old covenant temple was divided into three parts just as you are (see Figure). The outer or external court corresponds to your physical body which is visible to all. The internal Holy Place corresponds to the inner soul. Further in and behind the veil was the innermost Holy of Holies, the secret place of the Most High. This corresponds to your spirit which lies beyond your self-consciousness and above your natural senses.

You may think this is a brilliant comparison, but it’s not mine. Watchman Nee was teaching this metaphor 100 years ago, and he himself had been influenced by Andrew Murray and F.B. Meyer.

In the 1960’s, Nee’s teachings were translated into English and published in a book called The Spiritual Man. In it, Nee said the various courts and rooms of the temple…

serve as images and shadows of the regenerated person. His spirit is like the Holy of Holies indwelt by God, where everything is carried on by faith, beyond the sight, sense or understanding of the believing one. The soul resembles the Holy Place for it is amply enlightened with many rational thoughts and precepts, much knowledge and understanding concerning the things in the ideational and material world. The body is comparable to the outer court, clearly visible to all. The body’s actions may be seen by everyone.

Just as temple services were regulated by what happened in the innermost Holy of Holies, our lives are to be guided and shaped by what God reveals to our spirits. Spirit, soul, and body – that’s the proper order. Everything we do begins in the spirit.

Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to be.

Before the Fall of man, we were spirit-led creatures. Our spirits controlled our whole being via the soul.

But when we walked away from God we severed that divine connection and became creatures of instinct and appetite, enslaved to the flesh.

Sure, a few of us had moments of enlightenment when our souls briefly rose above the muck. But like Kierkegaard’s flightless ducks, we were merely hopping, not soaring.

What was God doing during this time? He was trying to get our attention and woo us back to himself:

You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. (Act 7:51)

The religious leaders resisted the Holy Spirit with their hearts (souls) and ears (bodies). The Spirit was knocking, but they weren’t listening.

Neither were we. For the longest time we resisted the Holy Spirit. But then everything changed.

On the most important day of your life you felt the tug of the Holy Spirit and for the first time you responded in faith.

In your spirit you received the Holy Spirit and were connected to the Author of Life. Instantly, you were born again and you became a fully spiritual creature.

Like a duck that had discovered its wings, you lifted your eyes to the heights. In your spirit, you began to sense that something truly monumental had happened and that everything was new.

The time of waddling had passed.

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Source: Spirit, Soul & Body: How to Walk in the Spirit, available now on Patreon and E2R’s supporters’ page.

Sample contents:

  • The high cost of spiritual ignorance
  • What are the soul and spirit?
  • What does it mean to be spiritual?
  • Two ways to live: Flesh vs spirit
  • Four spiritual foundations
  • Six ways to walk in the Spirit
  • Spiritual revelation/guidance
  • How to test the spirits
  • What is the inner man?
  • How does the conscience fit in?
  • What does it mean to be born of the spirit?
  • Does God only care about your spiritual wellbeing?
  • What is a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge?

Six Reasons Why Original Sin Cannot be True

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Original sin says we were born bad to the bone. From the moment we drew our first breath, we were inclined towards sin, utterly depraved, and hostile towards God.

Since beginning this series, I’ve received messages from readers who defend original sin by quoting Romans 3, 5, and other scriptures that say we are all sinners who have gone astray. This shows the confusion that some have about the doctrine of original sin.

There is no question that we were born under the condemnation of sin and death. But the doctrine of original sin, which was invented by Tertullian and popularized by Augustine, Calvin and others, says something different, namely that we inherited Adam’s sinful nature.

There is no question that sinners have a sinful nature and that we all need to be saved from sin, but Augustine went further than this. He said we are born corrupt, and that we inherited a rebellious streak from our forefather Adam.

Augustine’s views are widely-known. Indeed, they are considered dogma in large parts of the church. But if his doctrine of original sin is true, your children are natural born sinners and dead babies go to hell.

Thankfully, it’s not true.

You may have heard original sin mentioned a thousand times, and I can understand your shock when I say original sin is unbiblical. But as sure as the night is dark, the doctrine of original sin is an invention of religion. It is not from the Holy Spirit.

The doctrine of original sin has brought nothing but pain and guilt to the world. A good tree bears good fruit, but manmade doctrines release suffering and death.

Here are six more reasons why you should have nothing to do with this unbiblical teaching:

1. Adam sinned without a sinful nature

Original sin says we inherited a sinful nature from Adam, but when Adam fell into sin he didn’t have one. How could Adam pass along something he didn’t have?

Adam’s sin had catastrophic consequences for the human race, but his sin did not lead to a redesign of the original prototype. Men did not start growing horns or tails as a result of the Fall, and God’s workmanship remains as good as ever (Ps. 139:14).

2. God never said original sin was part of the curse

After Adam fell, God outlined the consequences of his sin (see Gen. 3:14–19). God told Adam all the bad things that what would happen, but he said nothing about passing on a bad gene or a sinful predisposition or a rebellious nature. Augustine has added to the curse.

3. If we are born corrupt, we can’t become corrupt

Original sin says you were born corrupt, defiled and lost, but the Bible says we become corrupt and go astray and turn aside. “All have turned aside and become corrupt” (Ps. 14:3). There are many scriptures that describe how this happens (e.g., Ps. 14:3, Gal. 5:4, 6:8, 1 Tim. 6:10, 21, etc.).

4. You cannot pass on a righteous nature

Original sin came to you from Adam by way of your parents, but what if your parents were spirit-filled believers? They would no longer have a sinful nature. One with the Lord, they had a righteous nature.

Did you inherit your parents’ righteous nature? Were you a natural born saint? No one believes you can inherit your parents’ righteousness, so why do we think we inherited their sinfulness?

5. Original sin cannot account for Old Testament saints

If anyone was going to inherit Adam’s wicked gene, surely it was his son. Yet Jesus said Abel was righteous (Matt. 23:35). So were Noah, Lot, and Daniel (Gen. 6:9, Eze. 14:20, 2 Pet. 2:7).

The related doctrines of original sin and total depravity say that none of us can reach out to God, but Abel and the other Old Testament saints prove that the unsaved can operate in faith. God is not far from any of us (Acts 17:27).

6. Original sin says you have no choice

Original sin says it’s not your fault that you are wicked and incapable of living by faith. You are a hapless victim. Unless God happens to grace you – and who can say if he will? – you are eternally lost.

The devil would love for you to believe this because such a message will leave you unmoved and unchanged. It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The good news declares you have a choice. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin?” (Rom. 6:1). Do you see? You don’t have to continue in sin.

In Adam, we had no choice, but Christ was “raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). You have a choice. You can choose to walk in the old way of Adam or the new way of Jesus. Choose life.

The end of the matter

Here are three ways to tell if a teaching is unscriptural: (1) it’s not in the Bible, (2) it contradicts the Bible, and (3) it leads to illogical conclusions. Augustine’s doctrine of original sin fails all three tests. There is not one scripture that says we inherited Adam’s sinful nature and plenty that say otherwise.

Original sin is unbiblical and illogical, but its greatest flaw is the way it portrays God as harsh and unjust. Original sin says the sons are judged for the sins of the father, but this is contrary to the heart of God. Not even under the law-keeping covenant were children judged for their parents’ sins (Deu. 24:16, Eze. 18:20).

Original sin says humanity was created good but became bad. “You can be made good again but no matter how good you are, your children will always be born bad.” Huh?

The Bible tells a simpler story and offers a better remedy:

Augustine’s teaching on original sin is bad news from start to finish, but there is no bad news in the good news. Contrary to what you may have heard, God is good, he loves you, and he doesn’t hold your sins or your parents’ sin against you (2 Cor. 5:19).

Believe the good news and be free!

(And stop telling your kids they are sinners.)

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Full sources can be found found in my Original Sin ebook on Patreon.

Other articles on original sin:

Are your Children Natural Born Sinners?

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A few years ago, the Babylon Bee published a satirical article entitled “Woman Finally Accepts Doctrine of Total Depravity Now That Daughter Is Two.” The article was about a young mother who became convinced about the doctrine of total depravity after her child became a toddler:

I had the hardest time coming to grips with the idea that all the people I see around me are marred by sin and without hope but for the grace of God,” the young mother told reporters. “But now that Charlotte is two—hoo boy. That innate depravity is shining through with the brightness of a thousand suns.

It was a fictional piece but it carried a grain of truth. As many parents can attest, sweet babies sometimes turn into little monsters.

As soon as the child discovers their will, selfishness rears its ugly head. Tantrums, uneaten meals, and an all-round refusal to do what they are told seems to prove the existence of original sin.

“Little Johnny is proof positive that we’re born rebels. Grab the rod. We’re going to train that sinfulness right out of him!”

Or maybe there is another way to look at it.

If you have been following my series on original sin, you will know that I do not subscribe to the idea that we inherited a sinful nature from our parents. I am convinced that Augustine’s doctrine of original sin is unbiblical. And illogical.

So why do two-year olds act like selfish little sinners? Because that’s how they’ve been raised.

A selfish toddler is a product of their upbringing. For their entire life, they have been waited on hand and foot.

If they are hungry, an adult will feed them. If they are dirty, an adult will wash them. They have done little for themselves and nothing for others.

Their selfishness is not inherited but is a learned behavior, and one that has been reinforced every day of their lives.

And that is exactly what God intended.

A selfish toddler is basically a big baby because what else are they going to be? For every day of its life, the toddler has had one lesson reinforced again and again: crying and making a fuss gets results. So of course they are going to cry and act out. This is the only trick they know.

Once the toddler is over the infantile hump of helplessness, they can be taught other skills, like self-control, kindness, and consideration for others.

Train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

The Scriptures exhort parents to train their children. But if original sin is true and little Johnny is genetically inclined to sin, how will training help? You might as well train him to be tall.

“But Paul, haven’t you heard of the terrible twos?”

As a father of four, I am well-acquainted with the ways of toddlers. I have learned that the terrible twos are largely an invention of parents who are overwhelmed by the considerable challenge of training toddlers.

God made parents stronger, smarter, and faster than their children, yet some parents act like their kids are on the throne.

It is a blessing to have strong-willed children, and the last thing we want to do is break their little spirits. (“Don’t exasperate your children” (Col. 3:21).) But you’d have to be nuts to let a small child run your life.

This is not the place where I discuss Parenting 101, but let me leave you with this: Jesus said make a tree good or make a tree bad (Matt. 12:33). We make our children good by teaching them the ways of the Lord and by leading them to One who is the Source of goodness. And we make our children bad by sending them unprepared into a corrupt world full of lies and deception.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

A child’s heart is like soil. Into this soil we can sow the good seed of God’s word or we can let the devil plant weeds. We can nurture our kids with love, or we can neglect them. We can bring them up in the ways of the Lord or we can leave them to be raised by wolves.

Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), the founder of the Jesuits, famously said, “Give me a child till he is seven years old, and I will show you the man.” He understood that who we become is determined in early childhood. We are not born with a sinful nature but we can be made into full-blown sinners and this process is hastened by parental neglect.

Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. (Psalm 8:2, NIV)

When young children are raised well, it brings glory to their Maker. When they praise the Lord, it renders his enemies speechless.

I’ve seen young children heal the sick, prophesy, and lead people to Jesus. I am not surprised when this happens because I know God has chosen the foolish and the weak to confound the wise and the strong.

Whoever receives one child like this in my name receives me; and whoever receives me does not receive me, but him who sent me. (Mark 9:37)

In the Gospels there were some who wanted to keep the children out of sight. This displeased Jesus. He put children front and center and said things like “whoever receives one of them receives me.” How do we receive a child in Jesus’ name? By seeing them as ministers ordained to declare God’s praise.

Original sinners? Hardly. How about original masterpieces, ready to reveal the gifts of their Maker?

If you think your children were born with a sinful nature and innately rebellious it will limit your expectation of what God can do through them. You’ll see the folly in their youthful hearts and miss the praise that God has ordained to silence his enemies.

But if you see your children as gifts from God and ministers of his grace, your expectation will help release them into their God-given destiny.

—–

Extracted and adapted from Paul’s ebook, Original Sin: What Does the Bible Really Say? available now on Patreon, along with these great titles:

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