Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:1-6 (Amplified Bible)
3 For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],
4 So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].
5 For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.
6 Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].
Sadly in the Church today, there is a lot of control from leadership over people. Part of that I understand as there are many people who would run amok over leadership if given half the chance. The control is built in to make sure that the process of running the church is controllable.
The danger here is that people become subservient to leadership who become their teacher and guide. I heard from a friend who said she and her husband had to sign a covenant with the church in order to become a member. When she explained what the covenant was, I pointed out that the covenant had nothing to do with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the anointing, loving Jesus, serving God, winning the lost etc. It had to do with "CONTROL" It is their way of saying, "if you step out of line, we will wave the covenant at you" It is truly sad that the Church has come to this.
It's a far cry from what the disciples were like when they stepped out of the upper room, filled with the Holy Spirit, and the fire of God. They went from house to house, breaking bread including the Lord's supper.
They broke bread, that meant they fellow-shipped, laughed, ate and shared with each other which is something that people like to do. But this was in the bond of the Spirit. A covenant that was signed in their hearts by the Holy Ghost. They had a love for God, and a love for His people. Fellowship flowed unrestricted and unguided by a set of laws that man put into place. But governed by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
When we as leadership follow the Word of God, and the leading of the Holy Ghost,
Gil Howard-Browne
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