Forty Prophecies in Forty Days: #1 Heart Obedience

I hear the Lord telling me to write forty prophecies over the next forty days and share them with whoever will read them. If these strike a chord in your spirit please share them

Romans 6:17-18 “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.  (18) Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

The Church has arrived at a fork in the road. When I use the term church, I do not mean any one denomination. I am not referring to charismatics, Pentecostals, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists or any non-denominational church for that matter. When I use the word church, it is the universal church, small c catholic, it is the body of Christ and is composed of all those who have put faith and trust in the blood of the cross of Christ, the blood of the New Covenant. So then, it is all believers who have arrived at the fork in the road. There is a choice to be made. In many cases it will not be an easy choice.

It may require some homework. It may require some study. It may require that we slay some sacred cows. It may require that we rethink and open up our hearts and minds to the prompting of the Spirit. The last fifteen years has been a time when the Holy Spirit is speaking out to the church (remember my definition.) In the beginning many could not believe what they were hearing the Spirit say. Many times we have rebuked the Holy Spirit thinking to ourselves that this cannot possibly be God. Believe me when I speak prophetically. It was indeed God!

Many of the things that we have been taught and have held so tightly and so dearly are just plain wrong. Therefore, also know that many of the things which we have taught are wrong. I believe that we will have to allow a complete paradigm shift to take place in order to embrace the truth of the kingdom of God. I can assure you that the kingdom age is upon us and it may not mean exactly what you think it does.

So what did Paul mean when he had someone write “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” What does it mean to obey from the heart and what exactly is the heart by Paul’s definition? It is definitely not the blood pump. No, when Paul speaks of the heart he is speaking of the inner man that has been spiritually reborn. So then, obeying from the heart is obeying from the inner man.

It is NOT following a set of rules and regulations. It is NOT speaking uniformly with a vernacular that is common to the group. It is NOT observing statutes and traditions. It is believing beyond all doubt that Jesus Christ has in deed done away with sin… vs 18. It is not that you cannot commit sinful acts that has made you free from sin. Oh, we want so desperately to believe that is so but is just is not. No matter how many things you forsake, you cannot really truly fulfill the first and greatest commandment until you acknowledge that because of Jesus and his work, you are free from sin. Sin cannot affect you… not because you cannot commit sin, but, because Jesus has done away with the penalty of sin. Sin cannot have dominion because of your position. Friend, you have to really believe this before you can have a revived inner man.

This is the foundation of your peace with God (Rom 5:1.) This is the source of heart obedience. So, here is the first thing that you must change your mind about; from here forward, you must believe that you are the righteousness of God and allow that to bring peace to your heart and mind. You cannot continue in fear. The day for operating in fear is gone never to return. (More tomorrow!)