Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
–Galatians 3:12

When I meet brothers and sisters in Christ who have heard the gospel of grace and learned about the finished work of Christ, I often hear a similar question: “If Jesus has already done everything on the cross, and it is written that God has already blessed us with every blessing of heaven, then why aren’t these blessings showing up in my life? Why doesn’t the sickness go away? Why financial difficulties or problems in the family?”

There are many teachings, books and sermons about why believers get sick and why some are financially blessed while others struggle constantly to make ends meet. Believers are offered all kinds of practices, from confessing their sins to proclaiming God’s Word. Today I am not offering you another method or practice for removing one problem or another, for the battle is not ours but the Lord’s. I will simply share the truth the Lord has revealed to me, and I believe it will set you free from unnecessary and useless works and practices, and you will abide in rest, simply trusting the Lord.

The Law Makes Faith Void

Jesus told the disciples that if they had faith as a mustard seed, nothing would be impossible for them. They would simply tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea, and it would be so. But never mind a mountain — sometimes even a small problem stands in our way, and however much we tell it to go away in the name of Jesus, it stays right where it is.

Have you ever wondered why the disciples could not cast the demon out of the boy while the Lord was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John? After Jesus cast the demon out of the boy, the disciples asked Him why they couldn’t do it. The Lord answered them: “Because of your unbelief“. Strange, somehow. Before that He had given them authority and sent them out two by two, and they healed the sick and cast out demons. So they had faith, and now it had evaporated somewhere, so that not even a mustard seed was left. What was the reason?

In the Gospel of Mark it is written that when Jesus came down from the mountain, He saw scribes, or teachers of the law, arguing with His disciples. What were they arguing about, and what were they doing there anyway? What do teachers of the law do? They give rules and laws and say that to achieve some result you must first do this and that, and do it correctly too. Scribes, or legalists, stuff a person’s mind with rules and requirements and in this way make faith void and useless.

Paul writes to the Romans: “For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,” (Rom.4:14) If you think that to achieve some result you have to do something, then faith becomes useless or powerless, and the promise of the Father — the Holy Spirit — simply stops working. That is, the Holy Spirit, who raised Christ from the dead, lives inside us, but He does nothing.

Paul also writes to the Galatians: “Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.” (Gal.5:2) Of course, no believer is circumcised today, but being circumcised means being in a covenant, or a relationship with God, based on the works of the law and correct behavior. And what is the result? Paul says that Christ will profit you nothing. That is, everything Christ accomplished for us on the cross — healing, deliverance, God’s blessings — will not be manifested in our life.

“Brother Paul, but I’ve been listening to the gospel of grace for 2 years now and I don’t live under the law of Moses, but the problem I’m praying about doesn’t go away.” Many of us believers, being Gentiles by birth, never lived under the Law of Moses or kept all its ordinances. But here is what Paul writes: “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)” (Rom.2:14-15)

Notice the words are a law to themselves. Since childhood each of us has been “stuffed” with morals, all kinds of “you mustn’t do that”, “what is good and what is bad”, rules that are part of the local culture and customs. Because of this, it really is hard for our mind to understand the purity of God’s grace. We try to behave well and think, consciously or unconsciously, that we will get something for our good behavior. Perhaps the words of one of our parents, “If you do well at school or behave well, we’ll buy you a toy,” keep living in our mind and working in our life. You see how our mind has been “polished” to work on the principle “earn it — get it”. And all of this is law, which makes faith void.

And then we become believers and start going to church, and there, instead of being freed from all the laws and requirements, on the contrary, more are added. We are taught how to behave correctly, cleanse our hearts, confess our mistakes, and so on.

Recently I watched a film called “Little Boy”. This little boy’s dad, whom he loved very much and who was his very best friend, was taken off to war, so the boy wanted very much for his dad to come home. When the boy and his mom were at a Sunday service, the priest read from the Bible: “If you have faith as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you.” These words touched the boy, and he went to the priest and asked: “How can I increase my faith so that my dad comes back?” The priest gave him a list of good deeds he had to do and said: “Do all of this, and then maybe, if it is God’s will, God will bring your dad back.” That, my friends, is how the teachers of the law make faith void and the Holy Spirit of no effect.

Renewing the Mind

“So I need to clean up my mind and get rid of all the rules and laws for my faith to work?” As I wrote earlier, I am not giving you another work or some new practice to busy yourself with in order to solve one problem or another. Legalistic strongholds that the enemy has sown in our mind since childhood, or false teachings we were “fed” in churches, are not removed by our efforts or works. Jesus said: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” That is why the teaching you hold to is so important. False teaching binds, and true teaching sets free. The true gospel of grace is the power of God for the salvation, deliverance and healing of everyone who believes.

Paul writes to the Ephesians: “But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph.4:20-21) Notice that the true teaching is in Christ, and when we come to know who we are in Him, we come to know the truth, and it sets us free. That is why Paul goes on: “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph.4:22-24). The spirit of our mind is renewed when we come to know Christ, the truth which is in Jesus, and learn who we are in Him — righteous, holy, perfect and blameless. That is putting on the new man.

We often turn the renewing of the mind into another practice: I need to listen to more sermons, read books, the Bible, proclaim my righteousness in Christ, etc. But renewing the mind is not accumulating some knowledge. Knowing Christ is not some new information about Him, but Spirit. The Spirit of grace renews our mind when we spend time with the Lord. When He makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside the still waters, and restores our soul, or renews our mind. You can listen to 100 sermons about grace, and the legalistic stronghold won’t go anywhere. Or you can spend 10 minutes with the Lord, and He will say one Word that will shed light on the situation. You can read more about renewing the mind in the article “The Mount of Transfiguration, or ‘Renewing the Mind’“

Remove the Law and Loose the Believer

In the Gospel of John there is a wonderful story of how Jesus raised Lazarus. Many precious pearls can be drawn from this story. Very often the Lord hides His truths behind names or numbers. The name Lazarus, in Hebrew Elazar, means God’s helper. And who is God’s helper? It is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father gave us to comfort, protect, build up, help and intercede for us. Just as Lazarus was in the cave asleep, so today the Holy Spirit is inside many believers who seem to be alive, but the Spirit of God is inactive and not manifested in their lives.

Jesus said: “Take away the stone.” The stone is the law — all kinds of morals, rules, prescriptions for correct behavior, and all the convictions in our mind that tell us what is good and what is bad, how to behave correctly and how not to. But Martha says to Jesus: “If you remove the law and the rules of correct behavior, it will stink. People will start sinning, fornicating and doing indecent things.” Of course I have paraphrased her words, but that is exactly what it means when she said “by this time there is a stench“.

Jesus answered her: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Notice that He had already told her something earlier, which is why He said “Did I not say to you“. And what had He told her earlier? Let’s look a few verses up: “I am the resurrection and the life.” (Jhn.11:25) Jesus says to Martha: “If you believe that I am the resurrection and the life, there will be no stench, but you will see the glory of God.”

Martha is a type of ministers, because she served the Lord. So today I say to ministers: “If you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, then take away the stone and stop imposing morals, law, all kinds of requirements and principles of correct behavior on believers, and then you will see the glory of God. You will see how the Holy Spirit begins to work through the believer, transforming him from glory to glory, for it is written that Christ in us is the hope of glory” (Col.1:27) A person may not show the glory of Christ right away, just as Lazarus did not immediately look alive, all bound in graveclothes, with his face wrapped in a cloth.

The graveclothes are the remains of the old man who was buried. They keep the believer from walking in grace and in the Spirit, and because of them, from the outside he looks more like a sinner, like the old man, than a righteous one. And the cloth on his face is the veil of the law, which keeps him from seeing Jesus Christ standing in front of him. It is that Lot whom Abraham had to part with in order to see his inheritance. So loose all of this and take it off him! Take away everything that belongs to the old man. All these morals, prescriptions of correct behavior, laws, practices and other nonsense. Jesus says to you: “Loose him, and let him go.“

Only by getting rid of the remains of the old man — who lived by God’s law but could not fulfill it, even if he tried (Romans chapter 7 is precisely about the old man), because another law was at work in his flesh, the law of sin and death — will the believer be able to walk in the Spirit and show the glory of God. Strong health is the glory of God, because there is no glory in a person being sick. Financial well-being is the glory of God, because there is no glory in poverty, which is a curse and not a blessing. A blessed and prosperous family is the glory of God, because there is no glory when a family has constant quarrels and strife. Take away the stone, loose the graveclothes of the old man, and you will see the glory of God!!!