Further thoughts on how loving Jesus frees us from sin #2

We don’t want to be like “them.” Have you met any of “them?”

They are the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a 1^st Century Jewish religious/political group that placed a tremendous emphasis on obeying Old Testament Law. They don’t seem to have had much of an emphasis on loving God. These were the people who lead the way in getting Pontius Pilate to give Jesus the death sentence.

You may know some 21^st Century Christian Pharisees. They know exactly and precisely what they are not supposed to do, and they don’t do it. But for some reason, even though they have this emphasis on living right, they are not very attractive people. Very few people who meet them want to be like them.

People don’t want to be like the Pharisees because the Pharisees invariably have two fatal flaws. They are a hard hearted people. An emphasis on following laws does not transform the human heart. And they are proud people.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. If God were to give you complete, instantaneous victory over every bad habit you have right now, is their any conceivable way that this wouldn’t make you proud?

The only way out of this is to grow in your love for Jesus. To the extent that you fail in this area, all “growth” in the purity of your life is simply of process of moving the throne in indwelling sin from the place of lust to the place of pride in your life.

Further thoughts on how loving Jesus frees us from sin #1

In an earlier posting on this thread I wrote that our focus must not be on trying to overcome this or that particular sin, but rather on growing in our love for Jesus. I feel the need to expand on that a little.

Got hates sin. We probably don’t have a word in our language strong enough to express his loathing of sin. And He wants to teach us to hate sin the way He does.

I don’t want to leave the impression that we should never be prayerfully thinking about what tactics we might use against a particular sin in the spiritual war. God promises us that there is a way of escape from every temptation, and the Holy Spirit wants to show us these ways of escape.

The point that I am trying to make is not that we shouldn’t struggle against sin, but that growing in our love for Jesus is the main focus of the spiritual battle. True spirituality consists in a growing love for Jesus and a growing hatred of sin. But the greater (more important) of these is love.

Why Is God Interested In Us?

God is not interested in you because of your mind. God is not interested in you because of your body. God is interested in you because of your heart. You have an undeveloped, unexpected capacity of love God that will absolutely amaze you. When it comes to love you can be a Picasso. A Beethoven. A Michelangelo.

You not only can be, you will be. Throughout all the endless ages to come you will love Him more and more as you come to know Him more and more. But you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven. The Holy Spirit is here to make Jesus real to you. Learn to listen to His voice. Let Him guide you and teach you. He will lead you into an all consuming love for the Savior.

Let Me Tell You A Secret

The four gospels are not in the Bible just so that we can know who Jesus was, what He did, and what He taught. In saying this, I don’t want to downplay the importance of the truth. The information that comes to us from the Gospels is absolutely crucial to the Christian life; but they have another purpose. The stories are there so that the Holy Spirit can put you in the story or put the story in you or both. The Holy Spirit wants to take the Jesus of the gospels and make Him the Jesus living in your heart.

The Holy Spirit will continue this process until Jesus becomes very real to you. You may not learn one new fact about Him, but you will feel that you are coming to know Him as a person and that you are beginning to feel the warmth of His love. And the inevitable result will be that you will come to love Jesus Christ with a passion and commitment that is greater than the love you will have for anyone or anything else in God’s universe.

Paint By The Numbers

This first experience of the illumination of the Holy Spirit may not profoundly change you, but it is the first step on the path to being profoundly changed. You must understand that this is only the beginning and that the Holy Spirit has much, much more for you. You must determine in your heart to listen the next time He speaks. When that happens you will write it down and think about it. You will look up some Scriptures that relate to it. And you will ask the Holy Spirit to make it real to you.

Have you ever done a “paint by the numbers” painting? You have this piece of cardboard with all of these shapes drawn on it. Inside of every shape there is a number. Each number corresponds to a certain color of paint. You can’t really tell what the picture is supposed to look like when you are done unless you look at the photo on the box. All of the shapes drawn on the cardboard look like a confused mishmash. Until you begin to fill in the spaces with the correct color of paint. And as you do this, a beautiful picture begins to emerge.

This is very much like what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your heart. He wants to show you a little bit about God. Then a little bit more. Then a little bit more. And the more you see, the more deeply you are moved; and the more you fall in love.

Some Of The Things He Might Say

Right now we’re talking about loving Jesus more than you’ve ever loved anyone or anything in your entire life. Our love for Jesus can only grow as big as the revelation we have of His love for us. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to help us to see Jesus with the eyes of our spirits so that we come to love Him more and more.

The thought that the Holy Spirit will bring to mind will probably be something you already know. It will most likely be a thought about Jesus Christ, although it could come from any part of the Bible. It could be a vivid, mental picture from the life of Christ. You may suddenly find yourself thinking about a human hand holding a metal spike aimed at the Savior’s hand. As you think about this, it will be as if the Holy Spirit is saying to you, “You understand what happened. Now I want you to feel the love that was in Christ’s heart that made Him allow this to happen.”

You might find yourself thinking about the words of Jesus to the woman caught in the act of adultery. “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11 KJV) Over time, as you think about this, you may find yourself feeling the love in Christ’s heart as He spoke those words. Or you may find yourself on the receiving end of those words, and experience just what that woman experienced when the Lord spoke to her.

It may not be a thought from a story; it could be anything from the Bible. The Holy Spirit might remind you that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16 KJV) And He may give you some glimpse, some small experience of the love that motivated God to give His Son.

As you experience more and more of the Spirit’s revelation, the fires of your heart will be kindled with a love for God.

Carve It Into Stone Tablets

Let’s say that God appeared to you as living fire. And that He spoke to you with a voice like thunder. I think that would grab your attention. I believe that you would take this very seriously. You might even take what He said to you and carve it into stone tablets.

For the most part, when the Holy Spirit speaks to us, it’s not that dramatic. We don’t get those terrifying audio-visual effects. But our response to what the Spirit is trying to teach us should be just the same as it would be if He audibly spoke to us from a burning bush.

You have to write it down somewhere. It may not be more than just a couple of words. “Think about the love.” “Jesus on the cross.” “My sins are really gone.” Write it down and ask the Holy Spirit to expand on it. Ask Him to write it on your heart. Ask Him to make it real to you.

One of the ways you can tell the difference between what a thought that comes from the Holy Spirit and a thought that comes from you own mind is whether or not the Holy Spirit adds to it when you begin to pray over it.

Pay Attention To The Teacher

We are talking about loving Jesus with all our hearts. The only way we can love Him with that intensity is by having a revelation of His love in our hearts. This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. I want to take just a little longer to dwell on this ministry of the Spirit since it is so little understood in the body of Christ today.

“The Helper, the Holy Spirit . . . will teach you all things.” John 14:26 NASB

“But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” John 16:13 NASB

Notice His title there: the Spirit of truth.

So, what has the Holy Spirit been teaching you lately? What truth has He been guiding you into? There are things we can do that will make us more sensitive and open to receiving what He is trying to teach us. These are the disciplines of the Christian life. Bible reading, prayer, worship, and receiving teaching from those anointed to minister truth in the body of Christ. But you can be doing all those things and still not be receiving the full benefit of the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.

I’ll say it again. The Holy Spirit is going to put some thoughts in your mind. “I will put My laws into their minds.” (Heb. 8:10) When we begin to expect this, we begin to notice it when it happens. If we will meditate on what He is trying to tell us, then we will find that the Holy Spirit will write this truth on our hearts (incorporate it into the very fabric of our spirits) and we will be transformed. (Heb. 8:10)

What Is The Holy Spirit Up To?

Why is He here? What is He trying to do? Most people would probably say that He is here to impart life to us. That’s true, but how does He do that? The answer is that He imparts life through the truth. In the New Testament, there is no difference between life and truth. Properly understood, they are the same thing.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” John 14:6 (All quotations in this post are from the NASB. Emphasis mine.)

“The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” John 6:63

“For the word of God is living and active.” Hebrews 4:12

“For you have been born again . . . through the living and enduring word of God.” 1 Peter 1:23

Moses “received living oracles to pass on to you.” Acts 7:38

This is how it we experience the life-giving ministry of the Spirit through the word of God. “I will put My laws into their minds and I will write them on their hearts.” Hebrews 8:10

The Holy Spirit is here to transform us as He takes the living word of God and incorporates it into the very fabric of our living spirits. The reason most of us aren’t experiencing anything like this is because no one has ever taught us about it and no one has ever suggested that some of the thoughts that pass through our minds come from the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit Will Show You The Way

But how are we, as a practical matter, going to come into an experience of this love? We are going to experience this love by listening to the Holy Spirit. All real progress in the Christian life comes through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. How does this work in practice?

First, we must pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us in the way. “Heavenly Father, I know that I should love you with all my heart, but my heart is like a stone. Please send your Holy Spirit to teach me the love of Christ, so that I may begin to respond to Your love.” This is how the Holy Spirit is most likely to answer that prayer.

You will be going about the business of your day when the Holy Spirit speaks to you. It might happen during a quiet time or a worship service, but it is just as likely to happen when you are driving to work. Suddenly a thought will come into your mind that has something to do with spiritual things. If you accept this thought as the product of your own wandering mind and allow your mind to move on to other things, you will have missed the moment.

What you have to do with that thought is to cooperate with it. Start to think about that idea. Ask the Holy Spirit if He is speaking to you and ask Him to make what He is saying to you live in your heart. Over time you will come to recognize the difference between a Spirit directed thought and a product of your own mind. A growing ability to recognize when the Spirit is speaking is the first step in your deepening relationship with Him.

Your next step is to think about whatever it is that the Holy Spirit brought to mind. When you have a chance, you want to write it down. If an awareness of the Spirit’s voice is the first step, responding to that voice as if it is the most important thing in your life is the next step.

Think about it, write it down, pray over it, and read passages of Scripture related to it. God is speaking to you. He is beginning a process by which He will transform you. What could be more important than this? His very Godhood demands that we give him our most respectful attention.

Let’s Review For A Moment

Let’s take a few moments to review and sum everything up to this point.

1. Our purpose in life is to love God.

2. As this love develops, it becomes the most important thing in our lives. It is not supposed to be a little love; it is supposed to be a fiery, intense, passionate thing.

3. Our love for God can become an enduring masterpiece, a work of art.

4. Loving God is the path to freedom from the domination of the power of sin.

But how are we to grow in our love for God? We know we should love God with all our hearts but so often our hearts seem like stones. The truth of the matter is that our love for God can only come into existence in response to His love for us. “We love because He first loved us.” (1 Jn. 4.19 NASB)

In seeking holiness we should not seek for victory over a specific sin as much as we should seek for a deep revelation of the love of God. This revelation of God’s love will transform us as we fall ever more deeply in love with Him. If that sounds overly mystical, I would refer you to Romans 5.5. “For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (NLB) The Holy Spirit is here to give us direct, personal experience of the love of God.

The Path To Freedom

Loving God is not only our purpose and our destiny, it is the path to freedom. We are led astray if we envision progress in the Christian life as being the absence of certain besetting sins. We think of holiness as being loosed from our sinful habits, but this is not the way. This must not be our focus.

Our progress is not to be measured in what we stop doing, it is to be measured by the increase of our love for God. Love creates a compelling motivation to live a life of love to God and our neighbor. As our love for God grows we are less interested in rules and regulations because the love begins to take command of everything within us. We are no longer trying to obey any law except the law of love, and as this new impulse of love molds and shapes us, we find ourselves sinning less and less. This is what Paul meant when he wrote that “Christ’s love controls us.” (2 Cor. 5.14 NLB)

You Are A Born Fanatic

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Not just love. LOVE!

If you are a human, you are a born fanatic. Please listen to this very carefully: you were designed to be obsessed with something. Somewhere in the core of your being there is a place where everything within you is supposed to come together in one, mighty, unified focus of love. Until we find this love, we spend our lives wandering through the world as if we don’t know quite what we are here for.

We take little pieces of our heart and try to give them away to a whole harem of loves. Some of this love we give to food, some to sex, some to sports, some to money, and some to ambition. Some people somehow understand that we are not supposed to break this great capacity to love into little pieces and spread them all around, and so they focus everything they have on one thing. When that one thing is not God, tragedy results. This kind of person will probably end up addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, or food. We look at such people with pity and yet I wonder if they are not closer to the truth than we are in some ways.

At least they understand that all of life is supposed to be controlled by one, overpowering, master passion.