There's an old saying among most circles in the faith of Christ that is very well known

There's an old saying among most circles in the faith of Christ that is very well known. It goes like this: 'Let go and let God.' I'm sure you've heard it, but I would like to elaborate on this saying just a bit here today. Actually I can say what it means in one easy sentence: Stop 'trying' and start believing. I didn't notice till now but that sentence has the same number of words as 'let go and let God.' Interesting coincidence. But I'll go a little bit beyond that one sentence, and take the saying apart a little, and compare it with some scripture. The verse that I feel really tells the story is this: "So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham" (Gal. 3:9). Just understand that "being of faith" means that faith is ALL that we are 'of.' A more widely known passage takes us a step further: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8,9). Now were talking about the most important event that can happen in a human life, so I believe the key element of our conversion to Christ, and our initial remission of sins, has to be the key element in the remainder of our journey of faith. We cannot be baptized with the holy Ghost, or produce the sign of the experience, which is "speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance," by 'trying.' As the scripture says, we are initially saved, or rescued out of our sinful state BY FAITH! And the passage does also say specifically "not by works." So in other words there is really no way we can get there by any kind of mental 'effort' whatsoever. We must simply BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, that he died at Calvary to pay the price for our sins, that he rose from the dead on the third day, and that he went back to heaven to be the "one mediator between God and men" (I Tim. 2:5). Jesus, referring to the new birth experience of the baptism of the Spirit, said the following: "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. [But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.] (Jn. 7:38,39).

Being baptized BY Jesus INTO Jesus is a really glorious experience, and he said right there that it only happens by faith in him. The apostle Paul simplified it by saying that "we receive the promise of the Spirit by faith" (Gal. 3:14). Now I know that most everyone believes that the holy Ghost baptism is a secondary experience for someone who is already born again, but we're simply told that "if any man be IN Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE" (II Cor. 5:17). That 'new creature' can only be BORN, he can't just be assumed. Also the scripture plainly states that "by one SPIRIT are we ALL baptized INTO one body [of Christ]" (I Cor. 12:13). Translation: The baptism of the Spirit put us into Christ, whereby we are born as a 'new creature.' So it's important to understand that the Spirit baptism along with its accompanying sign, is certainly the new birth and remission of sins. In the context of this article that knowledge is very integral because of what it takes to receive the Spirit, and how so many people strive for it much longer than it should take them to receive it. I have seen, including myself, so many people 'try' so hard to receive the holy Ghost, with failed results. Why is this? Simple. Because we weren't JUST BELIEVING on Jesus, and what he has done for us. When we believe him with all our hearts, it takes the trying out of the equation and converts us to Christ through the Spirit baptism. I've also seen people come into a service and get filled with the holy Ghost the first night they have ever 'tried.' How did they do it? Because they were just simplistic minded enough, and desperate enough to believe on Jesus with all their heart; and Jesus did what he wants to do for everybody, namely baptized them with the holy Ghost; as both he and his forerunner said he would (Mk. 1:7,8; Acts 1:4,5). Okay, that's kind of a long assessment of how we begin our journey in Christ, and I wasn't expecting it at all; but I can see why I was led to do this. The reason is that we can simplify everything that we need, or rightly desire, or want to accomplish, by the same means - FAITH! It is so easy to get caught up in the 'trying,' and attempt to force things to happen without even realizing we're doing it.

Of course we have to do things in life, and we have to do a lot of things that involve work and effort, and such things. Nonetheless there is a mode that we can live in where faith in Jesus covers everything, and that faith will let us feel when we're doing too much on our own and not fully committing something to him. A really powerful scripture that describes what I'm trying to say, is this: "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him" (Psm. 37:7). David was not telling us that we should just sit in a chair all day and expect God to do everything for us, but he WAS telling us that only God can bring to pass the things that we need to happen; and we must rest in our hearts with the assurance that he will. He had said something just before this in the same passage that sheds a little more light: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday" (Psm. 37:5,6). Like he said, whatever it is we need, GOD "will bring it to pass," IF we rest in that assurance. Peace is the 'rest' that he was speaking of, and there is something else that the scriptures tell us about what it takes to have that peace and rest: "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philip. 4:6,7). All of our own 'works' begin in our mind, so it takes a lot of prayer on a regular basis to "KEEP [our] hearts and minds" under subjection to the Spirit of God. Prayer is most assuredly not a 'work,' but rather it is our greatest tool of faith. The more we pray the more we will believe, at least in most cases. Jude told us so anyway: "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, KEEP yourselves in the love of God" (Jude 1: 20,21). If we keep ourselves in the peace of God, as Philipians 4 says, and we keep ourselves in the love of God like Jude said, guess what? We will be 'letting go' of our own works, and in turn 'letting God' do his works in and through us.

The truth of the matter is, if we remain pure in our hearts from sin, which is why we receive the Spirit to begin with; we fulfill the saying of the apostle Paul: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the FAITH of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). Now THAT is 'letting go and letting God!' If we remain free from sin and filled with the Spirit by exercising our faith in Jesus continually, we will naturally [or spiritually I should say] learn to fulfill sayings like the following: "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:19). The 'old man' would avenge himself, but the 'new man,' which we become and continue in by faith; will "wait patiently on the Lord," and BELIEVE that God will avenge him. Whatever the scripture tells us that God will do for us, he will do, if we simply believe that he will. But we can't force his hand by our own anxious efforts, because we will only get in his way and delay our help from coming. So the remedy is that we "keep [our] hearts with all diligence," and "purify our hearts" from things like anxiousness and our own haste; and 'let God' do his own work his own way, and in his own time (Prov. 4:23; I Jn. 3:3). So when it's all said and done, everything that we need or desire to come to pass, is going to come the same way our new birth experience came. By believing on Jesus for who he is, what he's about, and what he's provided; and seeking him diligently in faith for the same. When we are born again our hearts are "purified by faith," and if we are going anywhere with God it will be by the same means (Acts 15:9). After all, it's really that unison with Christ that we craved to begin with, and by faith we were "joined to the Lord [as] one spirit" (I Cor. 6:17; Gal. 3:27). So to keep "Christ [dwelling] in our hearts by faith," we simply keep believing him and keep seeking him, [you guessed it] BY FAITH (Eph. 3:17). And again, the only real way to 'let go and let God,' is to have him dwelling in our hearts, and not block him by our sins from doing his works through us. No wonder Jesus gave us the following famous saying: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Mat. 5:8). I just love it.