[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY3ZGckmtt8]That's right! Big buts! When millions stop short with I Corinthians 2:9, Paul was bold enough in verse 10 to say, "But God". That is a very big but and utterly destroys every excuse for not understanding the mysteries of God. Jesus has revealed the mysteries of the universe by His Holy Spirit. The beauty in hearing God's voice is that it requires us to be teachable. It took time for me to arrive to the realization that Christ already accomplished what I was trying to in my own efforts. To quote two statuses from this past week's Facebook activity:
"Who is guilty of using the phrase "standing in the gap"? I'm raising my hand. NEWSFLASH: There is no gap! Jesus is closer to you than you are to you. Gap: closed. Old Covenant vernacular: over. When we remain teachable, the Good News continues to get better and better because we can look back on the silly things we once believed and be glad that Jesus didn't keep a secret. Only people can take the upfront truth of God's grace and twist it to require more of our effort. With that said, if we continue to believe in our striving, the only gap remaining is the one between our ears and the one where our teeth get knocked out by the self-inflicted beating that accompanies religion."
And...
"Repent of your constant repentance! Even though the platform of some ministries is to get people to repent, the question is- of what?! The word "repent" means to change your mind. When you received the mind of Christ, your days of crying out in repentance were over!"
In other words, because of your union with Christ, you now have the mind of Christ. His thoughts have become your thoughts and His ways have become your ways. The mind of Christ does not need to be changed. We are continually being made in the image of God. We already are! Your moments of denial are just the nature of the old, dead, zombie - the person you once were who was co-crucified, co-buried, and c0-raised. You deserved hell and death. But God... He made you a new creature - one that can never be separated from Him. That old, sick, crippled zombie stayed buried. The new you was raised in perfect union with Christ.
Don't let repentance and ritualistic religion (no matter how charismatic it might seem) keep you from experiencing the freedom of the rest that accompanies His grace.
Jonathan Fawcett