“Therefore if any man is in Christ, {he is} a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” II Cor 5:17

“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” Eph 1:5

Often I hear of those who have generational curses. Their reason for present day calamity is because of the curse of an ancestor. The ancestor could have been cursed by God or a Witch Doctor; it doesn’t seem to matter. Whole meetings, sessions, are dedicated to breaking the curse. Where is this in the bible? Oh yes, there is one passage in the Old Testament. “God will remember….to the tenth generation.” (Deut 23:2)

This brings up a couple of points. First, in the New Testament, with all the idol worship that the Romans had introduced to the believers, there is not one occasion in the New Testament where a solution to a problem was the breaking of a curse. Second, if God has cursed someone, do you really think that a man could break it? Third, once born again, you are in a different lineage, the lineage of Jesus. God is your father. Is He cursed? No, He is blessed, Jesus is blessed, and you are blessed because you are in Him. There is no curse over you. The only curse, so to speak, is the curse of unbelief that allows the elect to be deceived into white magic to lift curses.

We have mentioned it before, but it is worth noting again. God gives a promise, then comes the reversal, and finally the fulfillment. I have observed that God’s normal way of working is to make us dissatisfied with where we are before He opens another door. It makes sense, because few would walk through a door if they were totally satisfied with where they were.

However, after the open door comes the reversal. Joseph was given a promise, “The sun and moon and eleven stars would bow down at his feet.” After the promise came a stripping, a deep pit, being sold as a slave, and prison. But it was the pit and the prison that made him the type of person that could handle the fulfillment.

One day from his throne he looked out to see his eleven brothers bowing. And guess what? He could handle it, for his deep trials had made him a man of grace. Without the pit-and-prison preparation, the throne would have been a curse and his undoing. As it was, the throne became a place of salvation.

I will keep repeating myself until others can finish my sentence. One “praise God” before we understand His workings is worth a thousand “praise God’s” later when the trials are over.

Abiding in Christ sounds good. However, sometime tomorrow a driver will pull in front of me, and I will find myself cursing them. It will all happen so fast that I won’t have time to think about Jesus. What am I to do? Good question.

However, the question reveals that we are consequence conscious and not cause conscious. The real reason for the problem is not the driver, but neglect and strength. Getting up in the morning, we don’t expect anything, we are feeling strong, and therefore we don’t invite Jesus to come go with us. If we had invited Jesus, we would be driving with a Jesus consciousness. When the driver pulled in front of us, our response would be natural and immediate. We would find ourselves blessing those that curse us.

Jesus in the morning prepares us for trouble in the afternoon.

Why are Christians in so much defeat? Don’t think I’m a heretic; just let me say it through to the end.

Christianity as a religion has failed. Christianity as a moral system has failed. The Bible as a source of power has failed. Truth is not only preached; it is demonstrated. Christian seminaries have failed and could be sued for false advertising; they have not created leaders or spiritual men. Christianity as a teaching is the best option; it has a better book and higher standards.

But what does that mean? Visit churches at the level at which I see them, and you will find that covert, self-righteous deeds of the flesh and covert, unrighteous deeds of the flesh abound. Very little can be found of loving an enemy, allowing another to wound, or blessing those that curse. Some of the rudest people I have met are Bible professors who know so very much.

We must admit it has failed. We have the same rate of divorce as the unbelieving world. Why? Because Christianity has schools, but it is not a school; it has a book, but it is not a book; it has a philosophy of living, but it is not a philosophy; and it has doctrines, but it is not a doctrine.

Christianity is Christ. Period. It was never meant to be another religion; it was always about a relationship with Christ.

The legalists–those who have attained their own form of righteousness–would like to rip two passages from the Bible, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that bear witness of Me” (John 5:39), and “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27.)

Man is made for Jesus to be connected to the Vine, not to imitate, but to participate. I’m not a heretic, but I can’t believe how much trouble I get into saying that Jesus is all we need.

When I first started traveling around the world, there were many instances where the atrocities of the white man, specifically Americans, were brought to my attention. I really didn’t care, for I was there to preach Christ. However, as the accusations and condemnation continued, I would eventually find myself defending white people. What a stupid thing it is to defend the flesh of another man!

One day I came away saying to the Lord, “Jesus, I came to preach You, not defend man. I know it is stupid to get drawn in to that discussion. Why do I let myself?” He was gracious to whisper the answer, “Pride.”

I have been in hundreds of homes around the world. Every family worries about the same things: their relationship with God, their marriage, their children, and finances. We are not different. The answer is Jesus. And there, in that place, with so much in common with the folks around me, I find myself talking about something that couldn’t matter a bit: white people! How could you believe yourself better than another if not for pride? Why would you try to prove yourself as good as another if not for pride? Pride makes us live to man in one way or another. Pride keeps the Liberal from inviting the teenager who is a skinhead to his home. If he were invited, it might be discovered that the boy’s home is a wreck, he has never been loved, he only knows how to hate, and he is full of pride. Would you have done better growing up in his home?

A black man’s son wants to marry a beautiful Christian who is white. At the family reunion, out of earshot, she is judged and condemned by the other women. Why? Pride!

An elderly man in England often verbally abused me. One day, after a few years, he came to me. “I just hated you because you were an American. The Americans came to the war late.” Pride!

The root of racism is not so much believing that your color is better than another color; the root is believing that you are better than another, any other!

The root of racism is not so much believing that your color is better than another color; the root is believing that you are better than another, any other! Are you? Are you better because of your understanding, your politics, your wealth, your education, your color, your anti-racist stand, where you grew up, your national heritage, your family history, or your “open mindedness”? People really don’t want equality. Everyone in some shape or form wants to be better than and believe they are better than someone else. This attitude of pride is all the justification that carnal man needs to abuse another.

There is no need beating a dead horse; history is replete with examples, i.e., results of pride. I don’t believe that it is possible to educate people out of pride. It is interesting that we feed pride in people and then wonder why they think they are better than others. Well, Jesus comes and equalizes all men, but not in the way we think He should bring equality! He makes all men equal in two ways. First, Rom. 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Oh yes, all men are EXACTLY the same. All in their pride have sinned! More than anything else you have this in common with every person of every race. You are sinners. It is a greater title that includes the lesser. If you can accept this, you have accepted your pride, and you are ready for entrance into the second category of equality. “For He Himself is our peace, who made both {groups into} one.” He has made us one! We are equal in Him, all sons, all gifted, all accepted, all holy, all righteous, and all humble.

You must admit where you are to leave where you are. Are you willing to admit that you are a racist? To be a racist you need only have the attitude that you are better than just one other person. Are you willing to admit to pride? If so, start preaching Christ; He is the cure for the cause.

One last thing, if you have been on the receiving end of racism, do not develop a victim mentality. Becoming a victim makes the victimizer your god, the one that ultimately controls your thought life, your happiness, and your future. Refuse to live that way and see God in it. John 19:11, “Jesus answered, ‘You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has {the} greater sin.’” Bless those that curse you. God is not fighting wicked people but using them in your life. You will have your reward in heaven when your oneness is revealed to all!

Repentance and Forgiveness:

“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Matt 18:15

A break in a relationship generally goes as follows: First, there is a relationship, next offense, a break in the relationship, hopefully repentance by the one who offended, forgiveness by the offended part, and in the end restoration. Jesus makes the point in this passage that if a brother sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, “I repent,” forgive him.

He speaks against the teaching of going to someone who has offended you and telling them that you forgive them when they have not asked for forgiveness. It is clear, “returns to you seven times, saying, I repent, forgive him.” It cheapens forgiveness to give it when people are not asking for it. It actually cheapens relationships.

Now, what are we to do when someone has offended us and yet refuses to ask? First, make sure that God has worked a basic principal in you. That is, you have accepted the truth that we are to be offended until we cannot be offended. If others can offend you, then others control you. Do any of us have a legitimate right to be offended and, to even be offering forgiveness, when there is no repentance?

Second, bless those who curse you. By blessing those who curse you, you will be able to keep the offender from living rent free in your head. And finally, when someone does repent, we must forgive.

What does this passage mean to you? Many are beating themselves up over their sin, so much so that I assume they live under the Law. It is obvious that they believe they are justified by behavior. Abraham understood the secret: without faith, the Law cannot be birthed.

Without first believing in God, Abraham would never have received the commands of God. I wouldn’t listen to any of the commands of the Hindu gods simply because I don’t believe they exist. Law without faith gives birth to sin. For example, if I believe in the love of God, knowing full well that all He tells me is for my good, I will easily and readily keep the command to bless those who curse me. It is simple. However, if I don’t believe in the love of God, I will read the command to bless those who curse, realize that I don’t do that, and not believing that it is for my good, I will find a way around the command. “I don’t have to love them, for they have gone too far.” The Law that was to bless me (if birthed in faith, in the love of God) now becomes the thing by which I am condemned; the Law, without faith, will always give birth to sin.

It is easy to see how Abraham was walking in the greater way of faith; even without the Law he was justified. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Sweeter words were never spoken. I determined long ago to spend my time in the love of God and not in the Law. As I have discovered the love of God, the command has been found to be easy. In fact, I refuse to listen to the Law unless it is in the context of faith in Him and His love.

The Law is good if birthed in faith, and moving deeply into the faith of Jesus brings a higher life than living in the Law, for faith in Jesus will lead to an expression of exactly Jesus. Amazing! Without the Law, sin is dead (Rm. 7:8). Sin counts on man’s boastful pride attempting to keep the Law without faith. This accounts for so much immorality in legalistic churches, where the emphasis is on performance and little or nothing is said of faith. A dating couple comes to the office, they have been sleeping together, and they are under great condemnation. Is the solution to have them stop? If they stop because of the command without believing in the Love of God that gave the command, they will continue to struggle and “slip up.” If they see the Love of God in the command and believe in Him who gives the command, the struggle will cease.

If a child is told that by working he will obtain a bicycle, and the child believes the parent, the work will be a great joy. But what if the child does not believe the parent? Will the work be done grudgingly or with joy? And working grudgingly is sin. If the child were never given the promise, the child wouldn’t be working grudgingly, and there would be no sin. In the end, that child would be better if he had never heard the promise. The problem is simple: the Law was given to men of faith, and men of unbelief have attempted to keep it–which they cannot do, for Law is birthed in faith—and the result is sin and condemnation. Now, Romans 7 becomes quite clear; the battle described is not the battle of the old man against the new man, nor a battle that exists before conversion or after conversion. It is describing an absolute battle between faith and Law, a battle that includes the unbeliever (going to hell) and the unbelieving believer (going to heaven.)

Security only comes in faith

At any time, either the unbeliever or the unbelieving believer can perceive, with the mind, the Law of God and want to keep it, for they know that it is good. Yet, because of lack of belief in God, the entire being cannot keep the Law, the person is divided, and the end result is sin and condemnation. Don’t think that the way out is recommitment, harder work, rededication, vows, knowledge, or strength; the way out is faith in Jesus. “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” The Gentiles have pursued the promise by faith and gotten it, but the Jews sought by Law and lost it. “For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Where do you begin in your struggle? Stop fighting the Law and start confessing Jesus with your mouth each day. Before you go to sleep, do not let your thoughts end at the Law you have not kept. Instead, let your thoughts end at Jesus, in whom you believe. This brings us to the final “hiccup!”

Security only comes in faith. Regardless of whether you are a Calvinist or an Armenian, to attempt to find security in works will only bring about insecurity. These two camps become one under the Law. Read Romans 7 and think of it differently. Paul is talking about living in the Law and how impossible it is to live so. The Law reveals what I didn’t know was sin, and then it doesn’t give me the power to obey. After the knowledge, I find myself doing the very thing I don’t want to do. This passage applies to all that live by the Law.