It goes without saying, or at least it should, that in life there is nothing of more value than our relationship with God. Our relationships with people are always secondary to our relationship with God. In any case, when this gets out-of-order we are committing idolatry.
The ten commandments, those archaic rules that are no longer allowed in our schools or courts of law, yea, you remember those right? They actually tell us quite a bit about God and ourselves when we look at them with the correct perspective. Jesus tells us more about the ten commandments in his 15 second interpretation of them than you and I can live out in a hundred lifetimes.
During one of the many episodes of religious church folk attempting to diminish the Spirit of God working through Jesus, He was questioned, “Which is the greatest command?”
His response was powerful and proved that religious people struggle to look at the spirit of what is intended, instead they usually just see what is written. (God’s Word is a discerner of the intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12) This usually has to do with people using God’s intentions to accomplish selfish motives rather than submitting to the work of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word in their own hearts.
In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus answered the Pharisee, a.k.a. expert of the law, by giving a summary of the first 4 commands. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Jesus was forcing this expert of the law and the other silenced listeners to acknowledge they had missed the spirit of the law that was given through Moses.
They were all there to defend the great and revered Moses but none of these men even understood what Moses had really written. They probably would have been just like the other stubborn, faithless, Israelites during Moses’ time and not listened to him or even liked him if they had been alive with Moses. Yet here they stand before Jesus, the Spirit of God in flesh, defending the law and the human law giver exemplifying their complete perversion of what the law even said.
The first four commands are laws that govern our personal relationship with God while the last 6 are laws that govern our relationships with everyone else, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39
The challenge here is to grow deeper in Him; more than just reading the Word without the Spirit being involved or living life without being submitted to the Spirit that wrote the Word. We can’t just take the name of God without allowing the Spirit to work in us and through us. If we take a personal inventory and can not see the fruit of the Spirit being cultivated in us then we may not have moved past living as one who is known only in name as a Christian.
John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” The greek word for sons in this verse is teknon and it gives the meaning that you are called a son or child because of your name.
When you compare the meaning of the original word for sons in John 1:12 with the original word used for sons in Romans 8:14 “because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”, you get a much different definition. The word for sons in Romans 8:14 is huios and it means those who in character and life resemble God, those who are governed by the Spirit of God.
The great separation here is that one who is only named among the sons of God does not necessarily yield himself to the government of God which is directed by the leadership of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This requires continued submission to the Holy Spirit, every day, not just once, at an altar in front of a large crowd. We have to be led by the Spirit daily.
If my son disobeys me this does not make him not my son, but rather he is a disobedient son. Of course though, continued disobedience brings consequences of death that separates a disobedient son from his Father eternally, Romans 8:13, “for if you live according to the sinful nature you will die.” In other words just because God predestined us all to be sons, this doesn’t make us have His name or His character. No, we all have to choose to let Him be our Father and we have to choose to let Him govern our lives. We must first believe in Him as John wrote in John 1:12 and then we must continue our submission to His Spirit as Paul wrote in Romans 8:14.
A point where the water gets muddy is the Church is full of both types of people. Those who are content with the name of God and those who are striving for the character of God. This points to why there are so many wars among church people.
Romans 8:7 says, “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” If you have some that are trying to walk according to the Spirit and you have others who do not, the very natures involved will bring direct conflict. The answer for this dilemma is to walk in love. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us all the ingredients required to walk in love. The Spirit’s leading will never cause us to walk contrary to God’s Word.
One who is controlled by the Spirit has yielded his heart and is willing to die to selfish desires in order that the desires of God be brought about through the Spirit’s leading. It is this “law of the Spirit” that cultivates the character of God within us, making us known as Christians in our conduct, attitudes, love and character rather than just a person who gets to use the name. Real sons, real daughters of God are those who are led by the Spirit. Ask God to make you make you one that is known by name and character.
Posted by Michelle Voran on March 24, 2010 at 4:44 PM
Great blog. Very meaty (lots of truth). I’m going to have to read this a couple times to try to get everything. Good word.