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But chains simply are not designed to be pushed anymore than humans have been designed to be pushed and forced. Through many illustrations God makes it clear that His ways are not to drive us to Him but to attract us to Him. The good Shepherd does not drive His sheep but leads them. And the main reason they follow Him is not from fear but because they know His voice and they are attracted to it. Any other model comes from the lies of the enemy.
Romans 7:25 clearly describes the arrangement of the life of a person who believes the Law of God is good, who wants to fulfill the requirements of the Law to please God, but is trying to “push his chain” to get to that goal. Paul identifies this arrangement as living in the flesh, serving the Law through the flesh. The way he is pushing the chain is by putting the mind ahead of the spirit part of his makeup. The problem is not because he is using his mind to serve God but is because he is trying to lead or control his life with his mind instead of allowing his spirit to be drawn to the attractions of Jesus. It is the direction of the internal relationship that is so critical here, the relationship between the mind and the heart. Whenever we are trying to operate our life by living more from the mind and intellect than we are allowing our heart to lead us, we are living in the flesh and are trying to push our chain to please God and become righteous. No matter how plausible or religiously correct or morally attractive it may sound, it simply does not end up with the results that we hope for.
Paul makes this even more emphatic in chapter 8. “Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8) At first glance many assume that this is describing a person who is not a Christian, who is not even trying to serve God. But that is not the case. This is a description of anyone who is trying to push their chain to serve God, who is trying to lead their life with their mind to serve the law of God.
I think this becomes even more clear when one of the stories of Jesus is viewed in this light. “On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'” (Matthew 7:22-23 NRSV) Notice that Jesus never denies anything that they claim they did for Him. In Paul's terminology they were serving the Law of God with their mind. Apparently they believed that if they performed correctly that they would deserve to get into heaven and enjoy eternal life.
But the real underlying problem, that they refused to believe, was that they were trying to please God by “pushing their chains” instead of allowing Jesus to “pull their chains” through an intimate attraction to His heart through a vital connection with their spirit. The “knowing” talked about in this instance is the kind of “knowing” that a husband and wife enjoy in their loving intimacy with each other. When we change the direction of our attention and our hearts are allowed to lead us instead of our minds, and Jesus is allowed to lead our hearts, then our chain can tighten up and we will begin to move into the intimacy required to find ourselves in the place described by the other group in Jesus story.
“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21 NRSV) If we fall into the trap of externalizing this “will of my Father”, we find ourselves right back into serving the Law with our mind while serving the law of sin with our flesh. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)
It only makes sense that to live in the presence of God for eternity it would be necessary to live in a way that pleases Him. After all, if we are not pleasing to God but are living in His presence, it would be an impossibility, for to be close to God and yet out of sync with His nature (the Law) is nothing short of pure torture and a description of hell itself. Hebrews says that to please God we must have faith.
But this faith is not the kind of artificial faith that is produced by working very hard with our mind to believe something not willingly embraced with our heart. That is serving the Law with our mind – trying to lead ourselves with our mind instead of our heart.
Real faith is spontaneous and is a result of a growing intimacy of the heart and spirit with the heart and Spirit of God. Faith is simply the natural trust that happens inside of anyone toward someone they have come to know well enough to realize they are worthy of trust. The most obvious exhibition of real, mature faith is found in Revelation chapter 5, one of the glorious worship services indulged in by everyone who sees the real worth of Jesus and responds to the attractions of His love for us.
I choose today to reorient my focus on what is the leader in my makeup. I want to pay much more attention to the condition of my spirit and stay in connection with God's Spirit while containing my intellect to its proper role as supporting advisor. I want to learn by experience what it means to live from my heart with my spirit being led by the Spirit of God. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'” (Romans 8:14-15)
