Page 96 - Laying Down the Law

righteousness found in Christ. The Law required man to give a tithe of his increase,
but Christ said no man could be His disciple unless he gave up ALL his possessions.
Consequently, those guided by the law often consider themselves to have performed
the will of God when they have only embraced a shadow of His will and not the very
substance of it.
There is a second group, very large in number, among the body of Christ today,
who have cast away the Law. Like Abraham, they have sent away the bondwoman and
her son. Yet, unlike the promised Seed who came 2,000 years ago, they have not come
fully into subjection to the rule of the Father through the Spirit. The main source of
guidance for this group is the same as the first group. They are directed by the soul.
Like Israel in the days of the judges, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”
(Judges 17:6).
This group has focused on the Scriptures that declare the saint to have died to
the Law, but they have neglected the inseparable counterpart to this truth. They have
not come into a fulness of union with Christ through the indwelling Spirit. Rather
than being directed and empowered by the Spirit, they are led by the soul.

Romans 7:4
Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body
of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised
from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

There is some admixture here with those of the other path. Many have adopted
the practice of rejecting certain parts of the Law their soul finds unattractive, while
keeping the parts that hold some allure. For example, many who proclaim a message
of liberty and grace teach that tithing should be practiced. Indeed, among those who
set aside the Law of Moses, a great many continue to hold to this one aspect of the
Law. The reason is not hard to discern. Many ministers want freedom from the rule
of the Law, but they still like to get paid. They fear that if they were to leave the matter
of giving to the individual, telling them to be led of the Spirit, giving would drop off
precipitously.
If the saints were to be led of the Spirit, I have no doubt that the vast majority
of ministers and ministries today would find that their money tree has become
barren. This would actually have a very positive effect of culling out that which is of
the soul, while giving renewed supply to that which is of the Spirit.
One common denominator between the two paths mentioned is that they both
permit the Christian to operate out of the soul. There is no wholesale surrender to be
led of the Spirit in all things. There is no conformity to Christ who testified, “I do
nothing of My own initiative. I only do those things my Father commands Me to do.”
There is a third path, however. It is the path least chosen. Of this path Christ
testified, “Few there are who find it” (Matthew 7:14). This is the path of the Spirit-led
life. This was the path Christ followed, as well as the apostles. It is this path that I
have been led to embrace and teach.