Paper Lies and The Law of Love…

Mary Ann Wray

I had a dream a while back where I was ministering the word of God to a congregation of people, when all of a sudden, little yellow pieces of paper (similar to post it notes) with legs began running out of the church towards the foyer door then out of the building.

As the little papers with feet ran out of the building, people were being set free from bondages and the place was emptied out as the Holy Spirit washed over God’s flock with the word of the Lord. I asked the Lord what these pieces of paper were and He said, “Lies”. 

You see, when God’s word is declared, that is free of ad-mixture, people can get liberated. The lies of the enemy, are like post-it notes.  They stick to our thinking and declare and decree things over us and to us that are untrue. They are half truths about God, ourselves and others. These “paper lies” seek to rule and dominate our thinking frustrating the flow of God’s grace and power to us and through us. Once a lie in thought form is conceived it births sin (hamartia-missing the mark). Sin births pain, separation from God, confusion, and displacement from God’s best while offering ‘temporary pleasure’. When sin is fully developed it results in death which is a serious wage to pay for its cheap thrills.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, yanks these paper lies from our thoughts! When lies get exposed and dislodged from our thinking we begin to live again in those areas where the enemy held us captive! Jesus house (you and me) gets cleansed and emptied out - free from Satan’s dominion and the result is freedom from fear and bondage by the truth! Jesus said as a man thinks in his heart, so he is.

The biggest battle ground is the mind and the enemy of our souls knows this. Therefore, he uses lies and negative thoughts to ultimately defeat us. There’s nothing new under the sun. The same thing happened in the Garden with Eve…”Did God really mean what He said?” He adds to the Father’s Words and intentions bringing us into a place of mistrust and suspicion about His goodness.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6

After it was all said and done, God “de-feeted” the devil when He cursed him to crawl on his belly. Satan is a ground dweller but you and I have been risen with Christ and seated with Him in Heavenly places. You’ve got to think like that: think high-not low, using the Word of God as your shield and buckler! If the enemy can keep us ‘earthly’ minded he knows we are at his level…easily defeated. Walking by faith is taking God’s Word as it is and waging war with it against the enemy of our souls…DAILY!

The lies of the enemy are the handwriting of ordinances that demons constantly accuse us and God with. If he can’t accuse us directly he will get us to depend on them for a sense of self-righteousness. The truth is, none of us can never ‘measure up’ to the laws demands. That’s why Jesus died for us! Only Jesus could fully measure up to God’s Holy and High standard because He was and is SINLESS! The good news my friends, is that the ordinances against us such as ‘touch not, taste not, handle not,” were nailed to the cross! Pride, on the other hand makes us think we’ve arrived by fulfilling some measure of righteousness on our own and have certain things figured out; whether it be life or our ministry things. Once we depend on anything other than Holy Spirit we set ourselves up for a gradual fade from God's Glory. The moment we start relying on our own good works to justify us before God in any way shape or form, we’ve fallen from the place of grace into a trap of pride, the same as Lucifer.

“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,  having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” Colossians 4: 13-15

Following ordinances, rules, laws and regulations can’t get you to heaven and keep you out of hell any more than washing a pig will convert it into a different animal. The blood of Jesus was and is enough to wash away our sins and give us the power to live free of sins’ dominion. The greatest dominion and authority you and I have my friends, is the freedom to live free of sin, its wages and Satan’s influence. When you fully accept Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for your sins He exchanges your old sinful nature with His nature of LOVE!  Jesus is THE WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. Regardless of your past, present and future, Jesus blood and grace is more than ENOUGH to give you the desire and power to live a sin free, overcoming life. When you and I truly get a revelation of that, we become a nuisance, hindrance and terrorist to the devil’s domain!

If the enemy can get you to believe his lies, he can get you to cross back over from the bridge of faith and grace into laws, regulations and doubt. As such, these lies bind you back to fear rather than the love of God. God’s perfect love casts out ALL fear. Fear has torment i.e., “Am I good enough; Does God really love me? Am I doing enough? Am I giving enough? Do I have a demon?” “Will I even make it to Heaven?” “I am rejected and not good enough.” etc etc etc. The enemy captures you in a ‘lie’ that keeps you in doubt and out of God’s light and love.

Jesus said, “You will KNOW the TRUTH and the TRUTH will make you FREE.” The current church wrestles with the same kinds of ordinances against us that the early church did. There were Judiazers and those who tried to add the law back into salvation rather than depend on grace through faith. Grace is not a one-time event nor a Card Blanc’ to live carelessly. Grace’s influence upon the soul makes you careful so as not to offend God or man through recklessness. Carelessness is not in your spiritual vocabulary. Before Christ you didn’t care who you offended, what you did, what you said or what you did. Grace is God’s power to change day by day and live the life out loud that Christ died to give us. The early church apostles opposed the ad-mixture of law and grace vehemently. There were only four ordinances the early church was admonished to follow after salvation. They were/ are: 1. do not eat meat that has been from a strangled animal; 2. do not drink blood; 3. do not eat meat offered to idols and 4. Abstain from fornication (See Acts 15: 29; Acts 21: 25; 1 Corinthians 8). That’s it!

Any other rule or regulation imposed by religion is not included in these ordinances mentioned and only bring men back into the bondage of fear rather than faith that works by love. There are still religious leaders who want to build a system of man-made security rather than getting people to fully rely on Jesus, The Holy Spirit and God’s grace. As such, they seek control and keep church revenue for their “businesses”. When we value people based on what they can give us and or contribute to the ministry rather than whose they are and meeting them where they are as Jesus did, we are in business not ministry. If we would exert as much energy preaching Jesus crucified, risen from the dead and teaching people to seek and walk in the Power of the Spirit as the disciples did, we’d turn our communities upside down-but with persecutions of course! How can I make such a bold statement? Just read the book of Acts and see how it’s done.

As New Testament believers, we are to be filled and led by the Sprit. He said He would write His commandments on our hearts. That’s the work of the inward witness of the Spirit living on the inside of us. That is the wonderful privilege of sonship (John 1: 12).  If ever we needed teaching about anything these days, it is learning what it means to be a son of God rather than a slave to fear and to learn how hear His voice  while being controlled by the Spirit! That would get a lot of pastors off the hook with dealing with the same sin issues over and over again with people while trying to counsel demons out of them. I’m not saying counsel and deliverance from demons isn’t needed but we do way too much talking when we should be praying and fasting first to get the mind and heart of the Spirit in the matter. When ministry becomes 'automatic' it becomes dogmatic. Why not point people to the wonderful counselor and teach them who they are in Christ, bless them in prayer and trust Holy Spirit to do the rest? Can I get an Amen?

It’s exhausting work ruling over people with a lot of talk and regulations. All it does is lead to strife, debate and divisions. Look what it did to the Pharisees. We are to lead by example, preaching/ teaching the Word of the Lord and a deep prayer life. Miracles follow! Paul told Timothy:

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,  and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.  But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

The best safeguard against false doctrine is to preach and teach the truth. Bashing other ministers and ministries only leads to negativity. Jesus said, “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me!” When you teach and know the truth you can begin to recognize the counterfeit. Best yet, teach and live in a way that will develop more of a hunger for more truth and revelation! It’s contagious! Have you sat under good teaching and revelation that made you want to go home and search it out and get even more from Holy Spirit as you did that? That’s what a delicious satisfying steak will do for you. You will only crave more!

Jesus didn’t die to control us. We have a free will and wants us to desire and delight to follow Him. He died to set you free so that through the knowledge and revelation of His love you will want to love Him and others in return. Freely you have received; so freely you will give! The greatest commandment is LOVE!

The Pharisees saw Jesus was a revolutionary reformer and as such very subversive to their current religious system. So one of their attorney’s asked him a question one day as if to trap Him:  “Master what is the greatest commandment?” (see Matthew 22: 37). Without blinking an eye, Jesus quoted the very commandment out of Deuteronomy Chapter 6 they were accustomed to hearing. The first portion of the prayer Jesus omitted is referred to as the “Shema”; “Hear O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” This was and is a prayer that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. It seems the religious scribes, lawyers and Pharisees, left off the very important second part of this decree that Jesus quoted in context. It was the part about loving God with your whole heart! Perhaps the law of ‘love’ had become obscured to them through all of their 613 ‘fence laws.’ Fences keep people off your property and make it difficult, if not impossible to enter.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6: 4-9

Jesus tore down the wall of partition that kept men out of His presence and opened the way for you and me to come boldly before Him to find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4: 16)! In Luke 10: 27, Luke added a bit more insight to this account between Jesus and another law maker who must have overheard His verbal exchange recorded in Matthew:

“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”  And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Apparently, loving God and loving our neighbor is all we need to live according to God’s standard. That’s pretty simple and straight forward. Think about it. God gave Moses 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai. If you broke them down into two sections you can see Jesus’ Two Great Commandments contain therein. Please allow me explain a bit further. You see, when you love God with your whole heart you will notice Jesus’ Commandments of Love (1 & 2) spelled out very clearly but simply. Section I covers the first four Commandments that deal with loving God: 

1. Have no other Gods before you 2. Make no graven images 3. Do not take the Lord’s name in vain 4. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. 

Under the New Covenant, Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. As such, being Lord indicates ownership. In the following verse the Apostle Paul writes that we are not to pass judgment about the Sabbath and Holy days etc. These are were a shadow of things to come. Jesus fills all and completes all! Following this spiritual logic, one could say every day is Holy unto the Lord so we should not split spiritual hairs about the matter of which day we call the Sabbath and holidays. (Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, and Luke 6:5).

Some denominations argue about which day is the Sabbath but THIS is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Here’s a verse that backs that up….

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.  Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,  and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—  “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”  (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?  These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” Colossians 2: 16-23

Having said that, when a person loves God with their whole heart there will be the desire and ability supernaturally to keep the first four commandments of ‘the law’. Section 2 can be broken out the following way that covers the Second Commandment of Love:

5. Honor your father and mother 6. Don’t kill (phoneuseis-murder intentionally and unjustified) 7. Don’t commit adultery 8. Don’t steal 9. Don’t bear false witness against your neighbor (lie to or about them) 10. Don’t covet (jealousy is an ugly animal). When we follow Jesus’ Second Commandment of love we won’t intentionally commit sins against our brother or a neighbor! When and if we do, we need to repent and make it right. That’s what humility and walking in love is all about. This is the Law of Love: it’s Godward and Manward!

Well, which one of us can say we have never broken any of the Two Great Commandments? In all honesty, none of us can. If we deny it, we make God a liar and paint a big capital “H” on our forehead (H for hypocrite). The Good News is that grace covers that too! There is forgiveness for us with our heartfelt repentance and confession of sins! The Bible was written to unbelievers and believers alike. John, the Beloved Disciple of Christ wrote the following admonition we best remember daily:

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1: 5-9

Here is how Apostle Paul put it in His letter to the Roman Christians:

“Owe no man anything, but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.  For this, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” “Thou shalt not covet,” and if there be any other commandment, all are briefly comprehended in this saying, namely: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13: 8-10).  

Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light. The Law is a heavy burden to carry. The Law of Love is a light thing in God’s eyes. The disciples struggled with the same idea we do. The concept of forgiveness was hard for them to grasp since they were die hard legalists from birth. I will close with Jesus’ admonition to Peter that applies to all of us. We can trade the Law for Love any time we choose. I choose to daily. It’s a much easier cross to carry. Either way we have to carry something so it might as well be the Cross of Love rather than the Cross of the Law….

”This is how my heavenly Father will treat each one of you “unless”…

“Then Peter came up and asked him, “Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? Seven times?” Jesus told him, “I tell you, not just seven times, but 77 times!  “That is why the kingdom from heaven may be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  When he had begun to settle the accounts, a person who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him.  Because he couldn’t pay, his master ordered him, his wife, his children, and everything that he owned to be sold so that payment could be made.  Then the servant fell down and bowed low before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything!’  The master of that servant had compassion and released him, canceling his debt. “But when that servant went away, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, seized him by the throat, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’  Then his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me and I will repay you!’  But he refused and had him thrown into prison until he could repay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very disturbed and went and reported to their master everything that had occurred.  Then his master sent for him and told him, ‘You evil servant! I canceled that entire debt for you because you begged me.  Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’  In anger his master handed him over to the jailers until he could repay the entire debt.  This is how my heavenly Father will treat each one of you unless you forgive your brother from your hearts.” Matthew 18: 21-35