FEELING "CLEAN" as A CONSTANT STATE - CAN it BE?
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
by Andrew Strom
Let me be very clear in opening this topic: We are talking about
the "inner man" here. That is the secret to this whole thing.
Paul wrote about it in Romans - John too in 1 Jn 3. Much of
Wesley's powerful preaching revolved around this one issue. And
Finney wrote about it this way: "I could not feel a sense of guilt or
condemnation by any effort I could make. My sense of guilt was
gone, my sins were gone, and I do not think I felt any more sense
of guilt than if I never had sinned... I felt myself justified by faith,
and, so far as I could see, I was in a state in which I did not sin."
Wow! Shock! Are we saying that it is possible to live in a state in
which there is no consciousness of "present sin" at all? Am I
saying that this is actually "normal" Christianity? Yes, that is
exactly what I am saying.
Normal Christianity is this: Walking before God with a truly
clean conscience and a pure heart - as our 'normal' state before
Him. Utterly clean. No STRIVING or "TRYING to be good". This
is clearly what the New Testament describes as normal. Literally
walking before God with "no consciousness of present sin". Notice
that Finney (above) refers to this as a state of "justification by faith".
And he is absolutely right. That is exactly what it is. It is as basic
as that. -Elemental Christianity.
The saddest thing of all is that we never hear it preached today.
It is almost as though such a thing is too "lofty" - out of reach
of the average church-goer. Or perhaps the preachers themselves
do not believe it is possible to live in such a state. They do not
experience it themselves, and therefore they do not preach it. How
awful beyond words! How we are robbing people blind with the
neglect of these basic truths! No wonder so few are getting truly saved.
I tell you, this is the basic Gospel we are talking about here. It is
nothing less. Today we somehow think that we preach the 'gospel'
simply by relating the facts of Jesus dying for our sins, rising again
and offering salvation freely. -Yes, these things are important. But
what about becoming a "new creature" and walking in it? What
about the fact that Jesus came to 'TAKE AWAY' our sins? What
about a 'new birth' that utterly transforms us from the inside out?
-That actually MAKES us clean and KEEPS us clean? Where is
this basic stuff in our preaching? Where do we actually describe
what happens inside a "truly saved" person?
We have so reduced the gospel today to make it more "convenient"
that it is no gospel at all. And thus we have entire church-loads
of people who are completely unsaved. They go down the front
and pray the "little prayer", then they spend the rest of their lives
paying their tithes and "trying to be good". -This is what a lot of
our Christianity amounts to. And it is all garbage. It is no "new
birth" at all. Wesley would be rolling in his grave to see what we
preach as the 'new birth' today.
Such was Wesley's preaching of the 'clean heart' in his day (and
Finney too) that both of them were accused of "perfectionism".
But I think that what a lot of people misunderstand is that it is
the 'INNER LIFE' that we are talking about here. Yes, we are still
attached to a "fallen" body - which sometimes stumbles - much
as we hate it. Paul says, "Oh wretched man that I am, who will
deliver me from the BODY of this death?" (Rom 7:24). But in the
very next breath he answers: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord..."
So it is not the 'outer' life, but the INNER one that we are speaking
of here. (Though the 'outer' will be affected, of course. We must
walk in "NO KNOWN SIN"). It is Jesus who gives us robes of
righteousness to WALK IN - in the "Inner Man". That is what
Romans chapters 5 - 8 are all about. That is what 'justification by
faith' is all about: WALKING with a "clean heart" inside. Pure white
robes - given to us by God - for us to walk in and keep "unspotted".
That is true Christianity: To walk before God with a totally clean
conscience and a pure heart before Him. -No known sin. Anything
less is no Christianity at all. It simply cannot be found in the New
Testament. You are either a "new creation" and WALKING as a
'new creation' - or you are not. There is no room for a "half-way"
house.
Today, we are no longer bringing people into this state with our
preaching. And therefore I say to you - "WE HAVE LOST THE
GOSPEL". And when we lose the gospel, we lose Christianity itself.
Wesley spent much of his life preaching on this stuff. (Go and
read his sermon "Marks of the New Birth" for instance. One of
the most convicting messages of all time). Little wonder that
sometimes when he preached, thousands of people would be left
on the ground under agonizing conviction. Little wonder too that
after Finney preached, sometimes church-goers were in such
shock that they could not speak for days - they were so
stricken. These were people who thought they were 'saved' but
Finney had shown them that they were not - in the most direct
and piercing way.
We say we want "apostolic preaching" and true "Revival" preachers.
I don't think we realize what we are asking for. Such searching,
direct, bold and convicting preaching as we have never heard in our
lives.
In August 2003 God woke me up at 4:00am one morning with a
sudden insight into Finney's preaching - how he would expose "false
assurance". God showed me that I had to start preaching that way
too. From then on, every time I preached this message I began to
notice a big increase in anointing and conviction. I have seen whole
congregations of up to 1000 people stand as one when the altar
call was given, and people coming forward weeping and confessing
sin. And I have noticed a similar impact when I preach on "A Clean
Heart" (-ie. Walking before God with a pure heart and conscience as
our NORMAL STATE). But I'm convinced that there is a greater
anointing yet unseen, waiting for us all in future days.
[The Podcasts on our website entitled "Repentance in Kansas
City" and "Are You Walking in Romans 8?" are on these topics.
See - http://www.revivalschool.com ]
So are YOU experiencing this "clean heart'' today, my friend?
God bless you all.
Kindest regards in Christ,
Andrew Strom.