What Is Your Covering?

“Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin” (Isa. 30:1). We have here three elements mentioned by God, that characterize his people as being rebellious. First, he says “they take counsel, but not of me.” Well the connotation there is easy: It is thoroughly established by the scriptures that all of God’s people are to be taught and led by his Spirit in all things (Isa. 54:13; Jn. 14:26; Jn. 16:13; Rom. 8:14; I Jn. 2:27). Now that takes some honest, humble perseverance in seeking out the heart and mind of God in prayer; and the Spirit will NOT teach, lead, or guide ANYONE who is not willing to forsake their will in favor of God’s will. So it is evident why many find it more religiously convenient to go with some other counsel other than God’s. And hey, you can always SAY it’s God’s counsel anyway. Anyone with a mouth and tongue can SAY whatever they please, and almost all in fact do. But that doesn’t make it so. Secondly God says that his people “cover with a covering, but not of [his] Spirit.” Really we are looking at the same analogy here as with the first element. The scripture plainly states that all who “have been baptized into Christ have PUT ON Christ” (Gal. 3:27). The same Bible says that “The Lord [Christ] IS THAT SPIRIT” (II Cor. 3:17). So it is obviously the baptism of the holy Ghost whereby one “PUTS ON Christ.” And again the scripture tells us that by being baptized with the Spirit, and putting on Christ, we are washed from sin, and thereby sanctified and justified (I Cor. 6:11). So you tell me: If we have “put on Christ” by the Spirit baptism, and are literally COVERED by his Spirit, which washes us from sin; how can we possibly ADD anything to that covering? The answer is easy, isn’t it? All we need to do is STAY COVERED!! Wooooooh!! That’s it my friend.

There IS no other covering that can do us any good. No ceremony, no secretive mysterious doctrine, no amount of religious service and activity, no tradition or doctrine of men; indeed NO NOTHING! In fact anything else that we try to add to the covering of his Spirit will ABSOLUTELY do us harm, and indeed HAS DONE God’s people untold spiritual harm. The many religious facets and inventions of modern Christianity have done nothing but cover God’s people with coverings other than his Spirit, and this poisonous process has steadily chipped away at the blessed covering that Jesus suffered and died for in order to cover us with; again that being his Spirit which is received by being baptized thereby and having the accompanying heavenly sign of speaking with other tongues. So what is the result of this world-wide deception of the modern traditions of men? That would be the third element of the equation, which is that the body of Christ has been tricked by the devil into “adding sin to sin.” What else could be expected? When the erroneous religious ‘additives’ of our time are mixed with the pure covering of the HOLY Spirit of God, the pureness is lost, and all that can be left is to make it nearly impossible for God’s people to live without sin in their lives. So it’s really no wonder that almost everyone who has been baptized with the holy Ghost believes that “we’re all still sinners, but we’re saved by grace.” Friend, God’s dear souls have 'been had,’ and it’s time to take back what is ours; namely true “righteousness, and peace, and joy, in the holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17). And I don’t mean part time, but ALL THE TIME! That is what Jesus died for, and that is what God’s people have subtly been tricked into rebelling against. So let’s throw all of the hurtful weight of these coverings of modern Christian traditions and doctrines overboard, and let’s ride this ship bound for glory together in “righteousness and true holiness” to the promised land (Eph. 4:24; Heb. 12:14). Amen.