by Joyce Meyer
We are supposed to do good works, but we don’t do them to gain acceptance or love from God. We do them because in His grace and mercy, He has provided acceptance to us as an unconditional gift. Our obedience should be a response to God’s goodness, not an effort to gain anything from Him.
Satan delights in deceiving people in this area. By doing so, he can turn people into legalists—people who work hard to follow every rule, make sure they read certain amounts of Scripture daily, pray for specified lengths of time and do good works, but sadly, do it all with the wrong motive.
Legalism Leads to a Life of Struggle
Works of the flesh produce struggle. They are our human effort trying to do God’s job. Our works can’t justify us, because Jesus has already done that through His sacrifice on the cross.
I remember the agony of my struggles in the early years of my walk with God. I truly loved the Lord, but Satan had deceived me through the lies he told me about my duty as a Christian. I thought, as millions of others do, that regular church attendance, reading the Bible a little each day, and saying some prayers, along with confessing my sins, summed up what I needed to do. I also believed I needed to do some good works, so I joined the evangelism team of our church. But God had not given me the grace for door-to-door evangelism, so I dreaded it every week.
I felt guilty all the time because the devil made sure I was fully aware of every tiny mistake I made. He is the chief legalist, so he brought to my attention right away any infraction of the rules. Even though I confessed and asked for forgiveness for it, I still felt guilty. Satan is the accuser, and he stays busy accusing us of things we have done wrong or ways in which we are lacking. Jesus wants us to have joy and to enjoy life, but the thief, Satan, comes to steal our joy and our enjoyment.
I tried so hard to change myself, but every effort failed, and I struggled and stayed frustrated continually by disappointment.
For all who depend on the Law [seeking justification and salvation by obedience to the Law and the observance of rituals] are under a curse.
Galatians 3:10
We cannot change ourselves, but the Bible says, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6 ESV). God is working in us all the time, and He changes us in varying degrees as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work in us. This is an ongoing process and will be completed when Christ returns, for “in the twinkling of an eye” we shall all be changed (see 1 Cor. 15:52). I suggest you learn to be pleased with your progress rather than feel discouraged and guilty about how far you still have to go.
Guilt is one way the devil oppresses us because it places on us a burden that actually prevents us from making progress. Romans 8:1–2 teaches us that there is no longer any condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, and that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death.
The Old Covenant required people to follow rules and regulations and to make sacrifices for their sins, but Jesus offers us a New Covenant under which the law is written in our hearts (see Heb. 8:10). We can now follow the Holy Spirit and be assured of doing the right thing. He has given us His Spirit and has put His heart in us. He is the one and only sacrifice that was ever needed for all time. When we fail, we no longer need to try to do good things to make up for our mistakes. All we need to do is look to the cross of Calvary, where Jesus paid for our sins once and for all (see Heb. 9:12). Under the New Covenant, when we confess our sins and turn from them, He forgives them, forgets them, and remembers them no more (see Heb. 8:12, 10:16–18).
When Jesus was dying on the cross, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). What was finished? The system of the law was finished. He kept the law perfectly because we never could, and He instituted a new system we can follow. It gives salvation, righteousness, peace, and joy rather than struggle. We still keep the moral law, but the law of rituals, rules and regulations, and sacrifices has been fulfilled. The moral law is written in our hearts. As believers in Christ, we instinctively know right from wrong.
I like to say that Jesus gave me a new “want-to.” The law says we have to, but grace gives us a desire to do what’s right. It gives us the want-to, and when all is said and done, people end up doing what they want to do most of the time.
When people say to me, “I wanted to call, but I just didn’t have the time,” they are not telling the truth. The truth is that they wanted to, but not enough to actually follow through and do it. We can find the time to do the things that are truly important to us, and when we do them, they are not burdensome.
We don’t have to go to church; we want to. We don’t have to pray; we see prayer as a privilege. We don’t have to read and study God’s Word; we do it because we want to know how God wants us to live.
If you pay attention to your own conversation, you will probably find it filled with “I have to.” You may say, “I have to go to the grocery store,” but you don’t really have to go; you go because you want to eat. Why not say, “I am going to the grocery store,” or “I need to go,” or “I want to go”? The devil has trained us to say, “I have to” about most things because those very words make us feel we are under pressure.
Jesus never used language like this and neither did the apostles, so I think it would be good for us to retrain ourselves in this area and realize that we do things because we are free to do them. We don’t do good works because we have to do them to get God to accept us. We do them because we have God’s nature in us, and He is good.
Those who live under the law are always frustrated simply because God will not allow us to get what we want from Him through our own struggle and effort. He requires that we come to Him in faith.
Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 ESV
Christianity is a life of faith, not one of works and effort. Jesus wants us to enjoy our lives and be at peace, but Satan wants to steal everything good that Jesus died to give us.
Pretenders and Hypocrites
The most religious people of Jesus’ day were the Pharisees, and He had harsh words to say to them and about them. He said they were like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside but full of dead people’s bones (see Matt. 23:27).
The whole of Matthew 23 gives us a clear picture of how Jesus felt about people like the Pharisees, who followed rules and regulations but had no real relationship with God. He told them that they stayed busy telling others what to do but did not do those things themselves. They tied up heavy loads and put heavy burdens on people, yet would not lift a finger to help them. They did their good deeds so other people would see them, not to glorify God. They also loved titles and seats of honor. Jesus actually said that they kept people out of the Kingdom of God rather than helping people get in. He said they never failed to tithe on every little thing they had but omitted the weightier matters such as truly helping people. He said they strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel. They might well correct others for some tiny infraction of the law while committing huge sins themselves. He pronounced woe on them several times. Simply hearing the word woe tells me I don’t want any of it!
Religion is one of the devil’s favorite deceptions. He can use it to fill people with pride over their supposed good works, while filling their hearts with criticism and judgment toward others. What Satan fears most is our having an intimate, personal relationship with God in which we include Him in every area of our lives, and we actually live for, through, and by Him. That is very different from belonging to a religious order or denomination, following a few religious rules and going to church once a week.
God looks at our hearts much more than He looks at our performance. He desires that we love Him with all of our hearts, minds, and wills, and that we do all that we do for Him because we love Him. He wants us to desire His companionship and realize that we cannot do anything without Him
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God gave Moses Ten Commandments, but by the time Jesus came the Pharisees had turned them into no less than 2,200 rules for people to follow. No wonder the people were internally and externally worn out! What relief it must have been when Jesus said, “Come to me… and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28 ESV).
Religion is often about what we can do, not about what Jesus has done. It may focus on religious doctrine rather than on the practice of the gospel in our everyday lives. Of course, we all need sound doctrine, but any organization that teaches only doctrine and never gets around to the practical side of Christianity will produce only frustrated church members who know rules but have no power to follow them. It will produce people with a lot of knowledge but no victory in their lives.
I have studied and written books on Paul’s epistles, and I have seen clearly how the first portion of each one focuses on our doctrine, teaching us who we are in Christ and what we should believe. But the second parts of Paul’s letters teach us what we should do in light of who we are in Christ and what we believe. If our faith is based on nothing but doctrine, we end up preaching to people but never showing them anything worth following. We need to let people see Jesus through us.
I ask you to examine your motives and make certain you are doing what you do for the right reasons, not merely to be seen, noticed, or well thought of. Be sure you are doing what you do because you believe God wants you to and because you love Him, and not in order to try to gain something from Him.
Where Is the Power?
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about people who hold a form of religion, yet “they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it” (2 Tim. 3:5 AMPC). Being a Christian should be a powerful experience. Paul also prayed that he would know Christ and the power of His resurrection, which lifted him out from among the dead while still in the body (see Phil. 3:10 AMPC). This is the kind of power we should also experience.
As believers in Christ, we should have the power to endure hardship without losing our joy or complaining. We should be able to go through difficult days and still hold on to our peace. We should be able to help others while enduring personal trials of our own. We should be quick to forgive and plentiful in mercy. Jesus came to give us power to live ordinary, everyday life in powerful ways others will notice and want to know about.
We can read and observe in the Acts of the Apostles how powerful the early church was. It was a lot different from what we experience today! Not only did those believers witness healings and other miracles, but they also endured great persecution while still remaining joyful. Today it is difficult for us to maintain joy if we are even mildly inconvenienced.
Perhaps we have too much religion and not enough of an intimate relationship with Jesus. It is wise to ask yourself if you are enjoying a close relationship with God or if you are merely going through religious rituals and trying to be a good person. I can personally testify that I was in church regularly for many years before ever hearing anything about the importance of having a personal, intimate relationship with the Lord. He doesn’t simply want us to attend church once a week and pay no attention to Him the rest of the time. He wants to be involved in every area of our lives and to have a conversational relationship with us.
I always believed that God was powerful, but I never thought I was or could be powerful also. That unbelief caused me to put up with whatever the devil threw at me, not even realizing it was the devil because I had not heard enough about him to realize he was the source of my problems.
Earlier, we looked at Ephesians 6:10, which tells us to “be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]” (AMPC). To be in union with someone means to be one with and to fellowship with. Marriage is often referred to as “the marriage union,” but how can two people enter into that without having a rich life of fellowship with one another?
Called to Fellowship with Christ
Our entire experience with God is changed for the better when we realize that what He wants more than anything is for us to love Him and to want to spend time with Him.
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV
God calls and invites us into fellowship with Himself, not to struggle to keep the laws, rules, and regulations set by a religious organization. I am not saying that we should avoid incorporating spiritual disciplines into our lives, because doing so is important, but the power to follow guidelines and make right choices comes from our relationship with Jesus.
Religion without relationship becomes a heavy burden. Many religious people are prideful, judgmental, self-righteous, and sour. They have a gloom or heaviness about them that is evident in their expressions and is visible to those around them. They don’t enjoy life, and they usually resent those who do.
But a close relationship with Jesus relieves burdens. As we fellowship with Him, He fights our battles for us. Jesus said that His “yoke is easy [to bear]” and His “burden is light” (Matt. 11:30 AMPC). Anything He asks us to do, He gives us the power to do it, so obeying Him can be a pleasure instead of pressure.
The more we include Jesus in our everyday lives, the more He fights our battles and the less trouble we have with the enemy. Remember, God is never more than one thought away. He is always present, and we need to form a habit of paying attention to Him. We should think of our relationship with Him like this: We don’t live in a home with other people and never talk to them. We share with them; we live life with them and enjoy them.
Let me conclude this chapter by saying that merely being religious always produces guilt and condemnation because there is always some rule or law we are unable to keep. Then guilt weighs heavily on us, and we try harder to be a better person, but somehow we always fail.
True religion based on relationship with Jesus helps people. It is always looking for opportunities to help those who are afflicted in any way, and it remains “uncontaminated by the [secular] world” (see James 1:27).
Try focusing on your relationship with the Lord more than on keeping rules and laws, and you will find that the desire to do the right thing will begin to fill your heart and you will do what is right with ease. Don’t let the devil steal the relationship with God that Jesus died for you to have and enjoy.
CHAPTER 22
God Always Gives Us the Victory
Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous, but the LORD rescues him from them all.
Psalm 34:19
Although we do go through many difficulties in life, we can take comfort in God’s promise to give us victory (see 1 Cor. 15:57). We can always have hope, which is the confident expectation that something good is going to happen in our lives.
God does not author our suffering. He delivers us from it when we trust and obey Him. Satan is the one behind all the misery and suffering in the world. He is an invisible foe that wreaks havoc in people’s lives mainly because they don’t realize that he is their real problem. I told someone yesterday that I was writing a book that I hoped would help people recognize when the devil is at work in their lives and he said, “Chapter One: ‘The Devil is a Liar,’ Chapter Two: ‘The Devil is a Liar,’ Chapter Three: ‘The Devil is a Liar.’”
Because the devil is a liar and the father of all lies (see John 8:44), and is incapable of telling the truth, he craftily puts thoughts into our minds. Therefore, we must be very careful about what we think.
Satan provokes times of pain and misery in our lives and wants to use them to discourage us and draw us away from God. He will attempt to make us think God doesn’t love us, especially if the suffering lasts a long time.
Satan will also attempt to make us think we have sinned in some way, so God must be punishing us through our suffering. Although there are times when hidden personal sin can open a door for Satan to wreak havoc in our lives, that is not always the case. We live in a world full of sin and its results, and Jesus tells us we wil
l have tribulation in the world (see John 16:33). Nowhere does Scripture promise us a life free from suffering. We do, however, have the promise that God will be with us always, that He will rescue us, and that He will work good out of all things if we love Him and want His will (see Rom. 8:28).
Focusing on God’s promises in the midst of suffering is very important and will keep us from becoming discouraged. I recall a time when I was sick for a few months and had to resist the fear that I would never get well. When we are in pain, Satan loves to whisper, “What if this never ends?”
When you are suffering, remember that it will come to an end. You are passing through something and it can make you stronger if you allow it to do so. Suffering is a time to exercise your faith and trust in God. I caution you not to spend too much time trying to figure out why you are going through whatever you are going through. The good news is that you’re going through. You will come out on the other side.
During times of turmoil it helps to remember that you are not alone in your suffering. God is with you. Here is God’s promise:
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
Isaiah 43:2 ESV
It also helps to remember that Jesus knows exactly how you feel because He suffered in all ways, just as we do (see Heb. 4:15). He sympathizes with us, and we can draw near to Him and receive the power we need to help us in times of need (see Heb. 4:16).
The devil will shout that you are not going to make it, that you can’t stand it, it is too much for you. That is when you say, “I can do all things through Christ who is my strength” (see Phil. 4:13). Putting your trust in God during trials and tribulations releases Him to fight your battles for you.
Discouragement
Discouragement is one of the devil’s goals. He wants us to feel downcast in our emotions; he wants our thoughts to be negative and to spiral downward; and he wants our hope to be down. There is nothing “up” about the devil; everything is down. Even our posture can get down. When we are discouraged, we hang our heads low and even our arms hang down. The author of Hebrews writes, “Strengthen the hands which hang down” (Hebrews 12:12 NKJV). People who accomplish great things in life must always face discouragement head-on and move past it courageously.
