Sixteen Denying The Power Of Liberty

Chapter Sixteen

Denying The Power Of Liberty

For emphasis sake, let’s briefly look again at what Paul said in his second letter to Timothy, describing what it will be like in the last days, before the return of Christ. He says;

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied [“to deny, renounce, reject, to disown, to refuse to acknowledge”] its power; Avoid such men as these.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5/NASU)

One of the many descriptions from Paul is that men will be “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.” As we already saw, one of the definitions in the Greek for denied is “to disown.” It’s to reject what is offered. You cannot disown that which you have never owned, or been a part of the ownership of.

Remember, in John’s letter he spoke of those who have received Christ and believed in His name. These believers have said “no” to the power of the Holy Spirit on the inside to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (i.e. the right to become children of God). After turning and gaining the ultimate privilege of being an owner (possessor) of Christ, they have, through great carelessness, forfeited the saving grace that was granted them. Through their opposition of the truth (again, the spirit of antichrist) they received His grace in vain which means it was “fruitless, without effect” (1 Cor. 15:10, 2 Cor. 6:1) God showed them grace and they rejected its inner working resulting in their being rejected.

It is only as we join Christ in His death, not living for our wills, that the power of God’s covenant is manifested in and through us. The writer of Hebrews confirms this, saying;

“For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid [“firm, secure”] only when men are dead, for it is never in force [“to be strong, to have power”] while the one who made it lives.” (Hebrews 9:16-17/NASU)

When we continue to do as we please after turning to Christ, we negate His resurrection power. The covenant is firm and secure in Christ when I no longer live, but allow Christ to live in me (Galatians 2:20). Otherwise, we may, through continued resistance, become guilty of being a covenant breaker within whom the power of God makes no progress.

God is extremely patient with His children for which I personally am very thankful, but the Bible is clear that He does possess a line that we dare not toy with. It helps to keep our wandering, fallen natures in check.

The Body of Christ is currently in a window of opportunity to deal with sin and rebellion. It’s our last one before the judgment of God, and is closing quickly. Understanding the seriousness of the times we are in, may we all be encouraged to examine ourselves and truly sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts. (Again, see my book 911; God’s Last Offer To The Church for more insights.)

The doors of the ark of His deliverance will soon close, ushering in the Day of the Lord’s wrath. He is a just and righteous God who will not let sin reign forever. His current patience with us, in particular the rebellious church in America, is to lead us to repentance. As the Lord declared to His people through the prophet Isaiah; “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, and for My praise I restrain it for you, in order not to cut you off.” (Isaiah 48:9/ NAS)

Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33;

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns [denies] me before men, I will disown [deny] him before my Father in heaven.” (NIV)

As previously emphasized, to deny the power of God is to deny the right granted through His power to transform us into a son and daughter of God. His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness so that we may become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:2-4).

Those who continue in the disowning of Christ by their actions of disobedience to His perfect law and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, thereby

allowing sin to harden their hearts, live in a dangerous state of delusion. In fact, Paul commanded us to “avoid such men as these. ” Like rogue cancer cells in the human body, if left unchecked they will negatively affect many in the Body of Christ, causing some to even fall with a great crash in the apostasy prophesied for the final moments of this age before the Lord’s return. They are the “hidden reefs” within our assemblies that will cause others to shipwreck their faith (Jude 12).

Knowing the return of Christ and the judgment of His Body draws near, we must lovingly confront for the sake of all involved. It is only by the power of God that we are protected through faithful obedience “until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ” (1 Peter 1:5/NIV)

To Will And To Work For His Good Pleasure

In his letter to the church in the city of Philippi, Paul exhorts the believers to continue in obedience, saying;

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear [“fear, dread, terror, respect, reverence”] and trembling [“a trembling, quaking with fear”]; for it is God who is at work in you [by His power], both to will and to work for His good pleasure [“will, choice”]. ” (Philippians 2:12-13/NASU)

In this passage Paul exhorts us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling. ” It is very rare to hear anyone preach about this. The reason being most of our current doctrines do not teach the truth of these two verses. We like to proclaim the love of God, and rightfully so, but not the fearful side of Him because it makes people “uncomfortable.” For the salvation of His people, God will deal with this man-pleasing spirit that is so prevalent within the church in America.

The devil’s doctrines remove ALL fear and trembling with the intent that we will become indifferent in our walk and not work together with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 6:1) regarding the completion of our salvation (James 2:22). Because of this, the majority of the church now sleeps in apathy with a false sense of security, believing they are rich and in need of nothing. Praise God that, in His mercy, He has sent forth His minsters that are raising their voice like a trumpet, warning His people to wake up and get ready so as to be protected in the extreme judgments that will soon be poured out on earth.

The definition in the Greek for “work out” in Philippians 2:12 is “to perform, accomplish, achieve, by implication to finish.” The majority of modern Christianity doesn’t believe that we have any work to do in the matter of finishing salvation. When reading these verses they never hear or see what

the Spirit is saying in order to produce the fear of the Lord in the church, so as to keep us from sinning (Exodus 20:20) and work together with the Holy Spirit. This is because they will not receive the truth regarding works as taught in the Bible.

The question we need to answer is; “If someone says he has faith but he has no works, can that faith save him?” (James 2:14) The Bible actually mentions two different types of works in the New Testament. One is referred to as the works of law (Romans 3:28, Galatians 3:1-5), and the other, works of faith (James 2:14-26).

The first type of works is led by the will of man, the second by the Spirit of God. Where there is no doing what the Spirit is saying, there will be no perfecting, no completion of our faith (James 2:22). This is the solemn significance of listening to the Lord, especially as we near the end of this age (Luke 8:18). (I have written a book about this called Works And Salvation for those who desire a greater depth of understanding.)

In the book of Acts we read;

“ …the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.” (Acts 9:31/NASU)

The reason we need to fear, as did the early church, is because of what we have already discussed. The right to become the children of God can be forfeited after receiving Christ (John 1:12) because of our denying the power of God that is at work in us, “both to will [“to desire, to be resolved or determined, to purpose”] and to work [“to be operative, be at work, put forth power”] for His good pleasure [“will, choice, delight, pleasure, satisfaction, desire”]. ”

In His rebuke of Israel’s rebellion against Him, the Lord made the following declaration through Isaiah the prophet;

“Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting place for herds, For My people who seek Me. But you who forsake the Lord, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune [Gad], and who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny [Meni; a god of fate who the Jews worshiped in Babylonia], I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear. And you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight [“to be pleased with, to take pleasure in, to desire”]. ” (Isaiah 65:10-12/NASU)

Similar to what Paul spoke of in Philippians, the Israelites were not working “for His good pleasure, ” for His will. They had forsaken the Lord and chose that which was not pleasing in His sight. Instead of working together with the Holy Spirit’s destiny for them, they chose to follow the Babylonian gods.

The clear warning of the Bible is that without the doing of God’s will which is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit after we receive Christ, we will not receive what was promised (Hebrews 10:26). As pictured in type by the children of Israel in their wilderness journey, the promise alone was not enough to gain entrance into the Promised Land. Because of disobedience, after being set free from the bondage of Egypt, they rebelled in their journey, becoming enslaved again, and never entered in.

The writer of Hebrews solemnly warned us of this, saying;

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first… Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful [“to fear, be afraid”] that none of you [brothers in verse 12] be found to have fallen short [“to be in want of, lack”] of it.” (Hebrews 3:12-14, 4:1/NIV)

The power of God within those who receive Christ is meant to bring our will into conformity to the will, or choice of God so that we will be saved. It is only as we submit to the Holy Spirit’s refining process of sanctification that we are conformed to the image of Christ.

This does not mean that you will be perfectly obedient in your walk with Christ. You will, though, not excuse sin but repent as you look for the way of escape and long to be set free.

Thankfully the Lord looks at the heart, judging the thoughts and intentions within us. Those who truly long to be set free from the sin that dwells within our imperfect spirits, believing the promise of perfection in Christ, will be more careful in regards to remaining near the Lord with a humble spirit of continued devotion to Him.

Paul declared to us;

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.” (2 Cor. 5:10-11/NIV)

As we near the end of this age and the completion (perfection) of the Body of Christ, may we be encouraged to “hold firmly till the end” through continued obedience to the revealed will of God, repenting when necessary, so as not to shrink back in shame at His return (Hebrews 10:37-39).