Believers, your pastor is not your high priest. Christ is your High Priest

Believers, do you wonder why many in the body of Christ are still sick, weak, under oppression and living in fear today? I believe it is because many do not believe that our Heavenly Father gives us all things freely according to Romans 8:32 - "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

In Matthew 10:8, Jesus said: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." 

This command is for ALL believers in Christ. Remember we are joint heirs with Christ. But thanks to those who Paul describes in Galatians 1 as preaching a different gospel, many believers are neither freely receiving nor freely giving today! 

This is evident in many churches where you are led to believe that if you don't "play your part," God who gives us all things freely with Christ will not save you from your troubles.

In such places, you are asked to do things like "come fasting," or “keep the Ten Commandments” so that you can "receive your miracle." People are even asked to "bring your childhood picture" in order to break generational and other curses that Christ has already redeemed all believers from and freely too; (Galatians 3:13 tells us that "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.")  

The love of Christ and God's undeserved, unmerited favour (GRACE) through Him is often reduced to a footnote. Most of the attention is focused on the church's "Daddy" and what he did, not what Christ has done for us.

These false teachers preach a different gospel – a mixture of Law and Grace - leading the sheep in their care  to believe that unless they, by their own effort, follow their 'nine steps to healing and deliverance,' keep the Ten Commandments to get right with God or buy their books and handkerchiefs, God will not even look their way. 

Instead of telling people about God's Grace and His gift of righteousness in Christ, they lavish the Law (WHICH DID NOT COME THROUGH CHRIST) and subsequently condemnation on people that God loves so much, telling them that unless they do or stop doing some things, they cannot obtain favour from God or be delivered from evil. 

Titus 2 tells us that our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ "...gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."

To "redeem" has the following dictionary definitions:

• To free from what distresses or harms
• To free from captivity by payment of ransom
• To extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental
• To release from blame or debt.

Christ came to redeem us from EVERY lawless deed in the context of all the definitions of "redeem" above. This is grace- undeserved, unmerited favour. This tells us that everyone who is involved in ANY lawless deed (act of sin) is in captivity/bondage to that sin. The person is a death-row prisoner of that sin and unless the wages of sin (any sin) aka death is fully paid, no amount of self-will and determination to get out of that prison can truly set free. 

The full price (death) has to be paid in order for the requirements of the Law to be met and in order for the prisoner to be free from that lawless deed that holds him captive. A price that Christ paid (His shed blood) to set us free from every lawless deed! Free indeed and not a temporary kind of freedom from sin.

How can a Saviour who came to redeem us from our sins (lawless deeds) use those very sins that He came to save us from as an excuse for not saving us?

Believers, it is having this very mindset that makes Christians unable to enjoy and share in God’s blessings which are freely given. Romans 8:32 says "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" 

With Christ, our Heavenly Father gives us ALL things freely with no terms and conditions. If you are struggling with sin, He will never leave you. He will help you to overcome that sin - this is why Jesus came, to redeem us from every lawless deed.

Under the Law is where nothing is freely given. When a believer is under the Law, Christ becomes of no effect in his life – Galatians 5:4 – “For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.” 

Outside Christ’s righteousness, the curse and judgment that come with living by the Law (which no one can keep) is free to manifest in the lives of believers!

Believers, it is our Lord’s gift of no condemnation that makes us go and sin no more; not more doing; not more works of the Law! We are righteous by faith, not by our works. Even the "holiest" pastor in the world is filthy in the eyes of God if he presents his ability to live a holy life by his own effort as evidence of his righteousness. 

There is only one brand of righteousness that makes the cut with our Righteous God, that which comes by one Man's obedience, as it is written in Romans 5:19 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."

The works of the Law can never make anyone righteous in God’s sight according to Romans 3:20 – “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” 

James 2:10 tells us that all it takes to be guilty of the whole law is one sin. Without God’s gift of righteousness through Christ, that one that only lied about how much he earns and that child-molesting murderer are in the same boat of unrighteousness. 

Preaching law-keeping as the path to getting right with God or receiving from Him will only produce more sin, acording to Romans 7:5-
5 "When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit."

The law gives sin its power. 1 Cor 15:56 – “For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.” If we could stop sinning, Jesus would not have needed to come and save us from sin.

But many people still preach that believers need to stand in their own righteousness (deliver themselves from sin or keep the Law in order to be righteous) before God will help them. This is like saying what Jesus finished at the cross is not enough and we can complete the rest. To think that we can do this is pride; self-righteousness which God despises.

You find that the preachers of this horrid mixture of Law and Grace have a monopoly over the list of things that you have to do in order to get right with God, be healed, break curses or overcome oppression, all of which are freely given in Christ. This smacks of Old Testament processes where the high priests were the ones that told God’s people what kind of animal to bring, what to do, what to say, etc, in order to be forgiven or cleansed! 

Even then, the high priests of old would examine the sacrificial animal (never the sinner) for blemishes in order to ensure that it is acceptable to the Lord. The sinner would place his hands on the animal and his unrighteousness will go into the animal while he receives the righteousness of the innocent, a shadow of what we have in Christ the Lamb of God today.

Not so with many of these pastors/high priests! They tell you that you are your own sacrificial animal! Instead of examining the sacrificial animal that was brought for atonement for sins (Christ for us today,) these leaders examine the ones who sinned and tell them to do such and such in order to be free from the coming judgment for breaking the Law, when Christ has paid the price of our freedom from judgment in full! 

But the law is not of faith! And without faith, it is impossible to please God.  So you cannot please God by keeping the Law!

John 1:17 says “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” They are different and cannot mix. 

Believers in Christ, praise the Lord that we are not under Law but under Grace. In Christ, we are no longer slaves to the law of sin but slaves of His Righteousness. We are children of God. He delivers us from trouble when we call on Him and blesses us not because of the things we do or don’t do but because of what Jesus has done. His Spirit transforms us and helps us to live right, not our self-will or dogged determination. 

Only with Christ as our High Priest can we freely enjoy our Heavenly Father’s blessings. Because He took our place on the cross and made us righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21), we are forever righteous and our prayers and praises are perfect in our Heavenly Father’s eyes, just the way they are. 

Think about it. Which would move you to bless your child more – a bad-looking but hand-written birthday card made for you by your beloved child or a generic, fancy Hallmark greeting card that someone bought for him to present to you?

Believers, we are not under Law but under Grace. Not a single person that was healed under the New Covenant that Christ cut for us with His blood had to "come fasting" or “prepare” in order to receive their healing or deliverance. The man that was lame from his mother’s womb in Acts 3 did not fast for a second before he received his healing from Christ through Peter and John. He received freely.

The possessed that were delivered and the lame/paralyzed that were healed in Acts 8 received their miracles not by what they did but because they heard Phillip preaching Christ! Remember Galatians 3:5 - 

"Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—" 

Check out how Aeneas got healed in Acts 9:32 "Meanwhile, Peter travelled from place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda. 33 There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly.”"

Peter just happened (of course our Lord arranged it!) to come across this man during his visit! No ceremony or preps on his part or that of the bed-ridden man before his healing! Even raising Tabitha from the dead a few verses after did not demand a trip to the mountain. Peter simply prayed and asked the dead woman to get up – and she did! 

Above all, when our Saviour Jesus walked the earth, He healed ALL that came to Him without asking if they had fasted or sinned. Bear in mind that nobody was born-again at this time because He was yet to take our place on the cross! Even unbelievers can receive freely from Christ through those who believe! Luke 6:17 tells us that He healed everyone who came to hear Him and be healed by Him.

Believers, Christ in us performs the miracles, not us! We receive all things freely. When you have unlimited funds and no transfer limits on your account, it takes almost the same effort to transfer N3,454 and N1,000,000 to the account of someone you want to help, doesn't it? 

You know you're using your effort when you think that praying for 10 seconds will suffice for someone with a headache but more effort needs to be put into praying for a cancer patient: the prayer needs to be hours long and has to be done in the middle of the night with dry fasting and at a dangerous location so that God can answer:) Heaven's economics does not work this way. It took Christ 5 loaves to feed 5,000 and 4 loaves to feed 7,000. It took Him less to do more.

I don't know about you but whether we give our kids what they ask for or not and how fast we respond to their requests does not depend on how much they shout and squeeze their faces when they ask. They can shout if they are in pain but not in order to be heard. It does not depend on how much they've read our biographies, what time they ask, where they're asking from or how many meals they skipped before asking. If we consider it needful, harmless or good for them, we give it to them, at the time that we feel is best for them to have it, even when we think that it is a waste of money. It is also our job to train them well so that they don't misbehave. 

In Christ, our Heavenly Father loves us much more than this. His Spirit teaches us all things too. His Spirit is in us to transform us to live right and do His will, not us. We can't because in our flesh dwells no good according to Romans 7:18 - 

"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out."

Believers, let’s not be deceived by peddlers of a different gospel. Paul asks us in Galatians 3:5 – “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—…"

By listening to preaching of the word of faith (not the Ten Commandments but Grace because the letter kills), our Heavenly Father supplies us with His Spirit and works miracles among us. Saves us!

 Also, 1 Corinthians 1:21 says “Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” 

The word “saved” here is not just being saved to go to heaven; it is also deliverance from the molestation of enemies and redemption from all earthly ills. It is being saved from the penalty, power, presence and pleasure of sin!

Believers, in Christ,  we have free access into the Holy of Holies/the presence of our heavenly Father! Please beware of preachers of a different gospel – those who preach justification by works and not justification by faith. Those who give you lists of things to do before you can receive from the Lord who gives us all things freely according to Romans 8:32. These people have taken on the role of high priest. They are not your high priest. I’m quite sure if you looked on their backs, they don’t carry scars of the stripes by which you were healed! 

Jesus Christ is our High Priest and all we need to do to be saved is believe! Believe that you have been made righteous in Him (seek God's righteousness, not yours) and all other things will be added unto you - including the grace to live right and deliverance, health, every blessing!

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.

Believe Right and you will Live Right!