LAW-ISM AND THE DEAD SPIRIT

By slight of hand the Enemy drew Adam into separation from God. By persuading the pair that they could be more like God; by implication denying who they were as sons, Satan seduced them into the illusion of a higher state of godliness – a state of being that resulted in their separation from Father and from their true selves.
 
LAW-ISM
 
A similar deceit is in operation today. The illusion that one may attain a higher state of godliness in the law than in the incarnation of Christ 0ur life.
 
Separation from God produced the illusion of the bisected cosmos, of God and not God. Or more correctly the dualistic categories of good and evil. Both were a consequence of separation from God. They became the normal, yet perverse mode of living from a split reality rather than union with God. The fall produced the dichotomised view of reality and of ourselves, of secular and sacred and of Sabbath and not Sabbath.  Since the cross we have union with God which is a Sabbath-life of oneness with God in eternal rest. God fixed separation in His Son. When Paul writes, ‘Made the two one’ in Ephesians much more than Jews and Gentiles are covered. It means humans were made one with God, themselves and each other.
 
SPLIT REALITY
 
Dualism is the habit of seeing everything in opposites. They called it ‘binaries’ today, where things are explained by citing them in opposition to something else. A paralysing dualism is the habit of defining issues as left or right. This has more to do with fear of loss and selfishness than any intention to give life. Issues are never this simple. It is an example of the split vision that is inherent in the knowledge of good and evil. Wholeness as opposed to fragmentation is ours when in God we live, move and have our being. This truth is irrelevant to the self-confident non-believer. But for the Believer it is the difference between seeing with blind eyes and the eyes of the Kingdom.
 
WHAT IS LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
 
Life in the Spirit is the effect and reality of union with God and consequently called life in The One Spirit. If the fall divided reality, the cross united it. In Jesus the ‘two were made one.’ You will see that we are talking of deeper things than Jews and Gentiles being made one. We are talking of the healing of creation. This deep healing is why a gospel composed of signs and wonders alone is a delusion. The Deep Healing is our lived union with God as a result of atonement and incarnation.
 
NEW CREATION ONENESS
 
Richard Rohr makes a very insightful observation when he writes
‘Finally God is allowed to be fully incarnate, which was supposed to be Christianity's big trump card from the beginning! It has taken us a long time to get here, and dualistic thinkers still cannot jump the hurdle.’[1]
 
Incarnate – what does that mean? It means the presence of Christ in you and manifest in the church. If you have ever wondered why much of the church is a damp squib there is a reason. Where the church is the manifestation of Christianity, it is weak. Where the church is the manifestation of Jesus as ordinary folks it is strong.
 
EXAMPLES
 
Dualism manifests itself in various expressions like, ‘What would Jesus do?’ Or ‘Keeping close to Jesus.’ Since the cross we and Jesus are one. We are part of Him. As such, we do by the Spirit what Jesus is doing now. No separation here. No wondering what He is thinking. When Jesus is our life we are thinking His thoughts.
 
In any case. The Presence is not just about doing miracles or experiencing a manifestation. The substance of presence is incarnation – Christ woven into our being and us into His. A ministry of gifts based on anything less than this always fades because it has no root. Many spectacular Holy Spirit revivals fade out for this reason. They are not rooted in oneness with God. Holy Spirit lives to minster Christ and His Gospel. Holy Spirit will withdraw when we resist this and wait for an opportune time.
 
CHRIST OUR LIFE
 
Incarnation is Jesus expressed as you. Keeping this in mind,
the words ‘Keeping close to Jesus’ can be seen as the redundancy they are. The trinity have taken up residence in your being. The least we can do is agree with this and live from it rather than from some imagined separation. Avoid these clichés and live in your inheritance of union with God. Don’t fall into the old religious trap of nonsense made sacred.
 
YOU ARE THE SONG
 
When we say old covenant we mean humanity separated in Adam’s separation. The innate dualism of the old covenant is often revealed in old covenant grounded praise and worship leaders. They will talk obsessively about ‘the song’ and have words to say about ‘this song’ and go on about how ‘this song’ was written. But in this age, we are part of Christ who inspired the song and more. In the age of the Spirit and in the life of the Spirit we are one with God and we are the song. A good worship leader is the song just as a good preacher is the expression of Christ. Good people are Jesus manifest.
 
EPISTEMOLOGY OF SEPARATION
 
Christians grounded in a law-culture fall naturally into dualism. In their framework  the law is separate from God and so  are they. In the culture and life of the Spirit you are one with God and you possess what was once the possession of Jesus. Today you and the Father are one. Jesus’ call to us today is to live from where He has placed us – in Him and with the trinity. In Christ we belong. ‘They’ are in us and we are in them. Rest in this and streams of living water will flow from your life.
 
PATH TO BEING WHOLE
 
‘Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them’ John 14.23 NIV.
 
‘Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me’ John 17.21 NIV.
 
 
[1] Rohr, Richard. Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (pp. 93-94). Wiley. Kindle Edition.