The Letters

March 7, 2023 

“and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:24‬)

When we hear the word backslider, a certain image normally comes to mind. We think of people partying in excess, doing drugs, sleeping around, cussing, and maybe missing church, and certainly all of these things can be symptoms of backsliding. However, there is something on a deeper level, something that has slowly eradicated our power and influence. In fact, in many instances we have become no different than the world, but not in the way that one would expect. The Apostle Paul had to address the Galatian church for this very thing. 

“Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” 

As many of us know, the early church was filled with power. It was filled with the manifestation of the Spirit and of His gifts. The Gentiles received salvation and were filled with the Spirit, speaking in other tongues and prophesying. They understood the working of grace because they knew that there was nothing that they did to earn or merit it. They had been strangers to the covenants of promise. Outcasts and aliens with no hope and no legal access to what God had promised to His people for thousands of years. However, something big had happened. Something marvelous and inconceivable to the scribes and scholars of the day, and to our day also.

But then to a church full of revelation and power came one of the devil’s most cunning attacks. He pulled out his big guns and emasculated the church with the very thing that Jesus had warned His disciples about, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees.” Hypocrisy. His objective was to negate the working of God’s power, His grace, and replace it with an ineffectual and impotent form of religion, and to a large extent, it worked, and is still working today (Galatians 5:2-4).

In an attempt to be “holy,” they became unholy, and had begun to disconnect themselves from a God who so loved humanity that He sent His Son. Through pride they departed from true holiness and became religious hypocrites. 

In Ephesians 4:24, the Apostle Paul referred to true holiness. What does this mean? If there is true then there is also false. To specify something as true is to draw a distinction between what is true and what is false. To say that something is counterfeit means that there is also a genuine. 

True holiness is a heart condition in relation to the Father. For example, if there is an election coming up, how do you determine whom to vote for? Google? The news media? Social media? Others’ opinions and articles? Your moral opinions? Or do you allow the Holy Spirit to reveal in His Word what direction He wants you to go?

Did you ask Him? 

If God were to ask you why you voted for a particular political candidate, would you give a variety of reasons or would you answer Him with His own Word? The word and principles that He gave you to make that decision. “I asked for your wisdom Father, and this is what I believe that you showed me.” “I acted in good faith and in good conscience.” He will say, “Very well!” 

We should seek the Father’s wisdom because we trust Him to lead us with real-time revelation through the Spirit, not our own “moral” conclusions. If the “moral judgments” of men were to be the benchmark of God’s calling then Jacob never would have been chosen to build the house of Israel. And there are many other examples. God calls and chooses whom He wills. He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and compassion on whom He will have compassion. If our moral judgments, personal preference, desires, others’ opinions, the news media, or anything else does not align with what God has said, then we should discard every other voice, regardless of how impractical or repugnant it may seem to our rational or intellectual minds. David got himself into a lot of trouble because, after trusting the Lord for most of his life, he numbered his troops and trusted in his military strength rather than the Lord. He put his trust in the arm of the flesh. He conducted himself just like the kings of the earth rather than one chosen and called by God. God dealt with him very harshly for this. This was not holiness on the part of David. 

We should do nothing without Him. In all of our thoughts we should be conscious of Him, listening down in our spirit. Abiding in Him. This is true holiness.

Another example would be looking for a wife or husband. The scripture says to marry only in the Lord. What does this mean? It means that we should have God’s blessing and favor. Whatever we do, we do together with the Lord. The common belief is that we should only marry another believer. While this is true and should be common sense, it is not the only prerequisite for obeying this command, nor the most important part. There are many believers who shouldn’t be married to one another. Just because two people are both believers does not mean that they are compatible either spiritually or naturally. Nor does it mean that the union would automatically be God’s plan and will, and therefore the result can be painful and disastrous. In other words, they did not abide “in Him” in their decision making, either spiritually or naturally, and therefore they can be unequally yoked, even though they are both believers. They made independent, intellectual, emotional, or “moral” decisions, assuming that God would agree and bless their union. This is not holiness. This is pride, and can even be a form of rebellion. “In the Lord” means that whatever we do, it is us and Him, not just us. God is intimately involved, and gives His blessing and approval. Everything that we do should be “in the Lord.” It is how we should live our lives. This is true holiness, which is actually a form of loyalty. 

True holiness is to maintain a posture with the Father like He does with us. We walk with Him, in Him. We are His, and He is our Father. 

Religious legalism negates the working of grace and brings God’s people into bondage. So prevalent was this deception that even Peter got into trouble (Galatians 2:11-14). He was afraid of the Jews, and so he reverted back into what he had come out of. He was preaching one thing and living another. He had become, for a moment, a religious hypocrite. The infraction was so weighty that the Apostle Paul rebuked Peter publically to his face, and yet we are doing the same thing today with impunity, if not boldly and unashamedly in many instances. We wear a gospel label and boast in a form of righteousness (holiness) that we have established ourselves, demand others to do the same, and then expect God to confirm it with His power. When that doesn’t happen, we say foolish things such as “It must not have been God’s will.” Or, “It is because the gifts have passed away.” Or we gaslight the people and blame others. 

With all of their “good works,” the Apostle Paul gave the Galatians an ominous warning, 

“If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing…” (Galatians 5:2). 

“Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)

This is one of the reasons why many feel dry and desolate in their relationship with the Lord. Why they cannot seem to “connect” with Him the way that they used to. 

When God began to move in power, the very first counter strategy of the devil was to tempt God’s people to return to bondage.

We are called to be separate from the world, and yet Jesus ate with publicans and sinners. One might say, “Of course, but He ate with them for the purpose of telling them about Himself, and teaching them the Word of God!” But that is the posture of someone who has an ulterior motive, an agenda. Have you ever been around someone like this? God never does anything deceitfully. Many of us do things like this. We set up certain activities to “win people to the Lord,” and people can see right through our hypocrisy and deceit, and want nothing to do with it. They feel used, insulted, and repulsed by our insincere and conditional attempts to demonstrate “God’s love.” Much of it we do under false pretense. We use manipulative tactics in order to get people to join our churches (or stay), or to ease personal religious guilt, and it is a disgrace rather than a blessing because our motives are not pure. This type of behavior is unholy. 

Jesus ate with the people because He loved them. He laughed with them, ate with them, drank with them, and went to their parties, and yet through it all, He remained separate (holy). How can this be? From appearance it looked to the religious leaders of the day that He was anything but holy, and they launched vicious accusations, but Jesus was guiltless. He never left His place of fellowship with the Father. He never left His position and posture of faith. He loved the people. He enjoyed them. He had fun with them. He was genuine and they could feel it. There was no pretense or agenda, and through the relationships, the grace of God naturally manifested and flowed, and He taught them the principles of the kingdom, which they received gladly.

I worked a construction-oriented job in Florida in the early 2000’s. The crew was a wild bunch of guys primarily from Jamaica, Mexico, and Cuba. Some were associated with the cartels. During the first two weeks, after they found out that I was a Christian, they let the air out of the tires on my truck, and other forms of harassment. But just a couple of years later, some were blaring Christian music on their radios, while others were healed of terminal diseases. One guy was given a matter of months to live. He started reading his Bible at home and was completely healed. He is still around today! God did many miracles, and many of them desired to know the Lord. They called me “Preacher Man,” and invited Marsha and I to their parties, took us to the beach, brought us home-cooked Mexican food, and I took them for airplane rides! They loved us and we loved them. Most importantly, they began to love our God. 

Being separate from the world first happens in the Spirit. It is a work of grace, a posture of the heart, and from that posture, the power and grace of God flows freely to others. When it is pure, the people can feel it. This is true holiness. 

Many in the church of Galatia had backslidden. Not because they were having wild parties and doing all kinds of crazy things, but because they had forgotten who they were. They had adopted a form of religion and self-righteousness. After being set free in the Spirit, they were seeking to be made perfect through the strength and deeds of the flesh. They were putting themselves back under bondage, “Ye must be circumcised…” They were puffed up and had been glorying in their flesh. God considered them backsliders, and He sent the Apostle Paul to warn them and to help them get back on the right track. 

There are many ways that a man or woman can be “circumcised.” They were in danger and did not even realize it.

Peter had grown up under the law, and yet Jesus came to him in a vision. He told Peter to partake of something that for all of his life had been taught was unclean. Peter argued with Jesus, “Not so Lord!” “I have never…” To a Jew, to say that this would be unholy and unclean would have been an understatement to say the least, and so Peter adamantly refused. Was God pleased with Peter’s moral objection? Did He commend Peter? No, Peter received a rebuke. 

“What God has cleansed, should not be called common or unclean.” It was a command not a suggestion. “Arise and eat…” 

God not only revealed to Peter the fact that the Gentiles would be received into the Kingdom along with the Jews, but He also revealed the underlying principle at the root of it.  

God would no longer accept the sacrifices of the flesh, nor the false humility and false holiness that comes with it. He would no longer accept man’s penance or his works, but the New Covenant would be based on grace and mercy. God’s mercy, which He demonstrated through His Son. He would pour out His mercy on the Gentiles as He did on the Jews, for none of those things mattered anymore. He would have mercy and not sacrifice.

Of course, we make mistakes in learning to live and walk in the Spirit. Our heart and motive is what matters. The devil will tell you that if you make a mistake, whether in operating in the gifts, or in any other thing, that God will punish you. But that is not true. God does expect us to learn and grow, but He will never get angry with people for making honest mistakes, and He delights in our learning, which is a continual process. 

God is much easier to get along with than most people think, and much of the time, easier on us than we are on ourselves. 

God is preparing us for a new and coming move of His Spirit, but we have to let go of a lot of preconceived ideas of how He can and will do things. In many instances, we need a complete overhaul of our theology. To root up, pull down, to throw down, to destroy, and to build and to plant. An exhaustive, internal shaking. 

In our country right now, people don’t want establishment politicians, and they don’t want establishment preachers either. They want what is genuine and real. The establishment is a dying breed.

The love of God is the only thing that cannot be counterfeited. In order for God to reveal His character and nature to the world, the vessel must also be pure (pure in the right way). God reveals and releases his treasure through earthen vessels. It does not come any other way. How can we reveal it to others if we have not known it for ourselves? 

Allow yourself to be conformed to the Father’s will and desire for your life. This is where you will find true fulfillment! Don’t be afraid of men. Don’t be afraid of what is new and unfamiliar. Just be willing, and God will lead you step-by-step. He will show you things in His Word that you have never seen before! Exciting and life-changing things!