12 Steps for Christians

“Faith without works is dead”

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves,” — James 1:22

“What doeth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?”  — James 2:14

“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”  – James 2:17

“Yea, a man may say, Thou has faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered Isaac his son upon the alter?  Seest though how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” – James 2:18-22

1.  The 12 Steps are outlined in the New Testament.  The difference in “Taking the 12 Steps” and simply an “act of professing one’s faith” is:  one has to do with “verifiable actions”  and the other has to do with the brain and the lips.  “Be ye doers of the word.”

2.  The Bible clearly shows that there are other requirements for conversion and salvation, other than just “praying to Jesus and asking Him to wash you white as snow!”

3.  These actions are: 

a.  Acknowledgement, that “all we are sinners, and have gone astray, and that there is non-righteous, no not one” and that “There is One with All Power, that One is God.” And, that “without God, we are nothing”  And, that “It is the Father, through the Holy Spirit, that is “within me” that doeth these works.”

b.  Confession of our sins.  (Steps 4 & 5)

c.  Earnestly, willing to stop sinning, and asking God to remove our sins, and to remove our “lusts of the flesh” (the desire to keep on sinning.  (Step 6 & 7)

d.  Repentance  (turning your life completely and unreservedly around) every day.  Step 1-12, and specifically keeping it turned around and repenting, Step 10.

e.  Profession of faith, that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.  Step 3

f.  Restitution.  Steps 8 & 9

g.  Seeking through prayer and meditation to know Gods will for you, discovering what God’s purpose is for you, and asking Him to help you carry out His will and His purpose for your life, every day. Step 11.

h.  Seeking to have a better “conscious” contact with God,  and to know Him more and more each day.  Step 11.

i.  Living for Christ daily  Steps 1 through 12 every day!

j.  Having a Daily Spiritual re-Awakening, so that we may practice the presence of God in all of our activities, and to tell others, by our example of living the presence of God,  “what a Loving and Merciful God has done for us” Step 12.

4.  The 12 Steps are a simple way, providing a formula and checklist to insure that you are a “doer of the word” and not just someone who professes your faith with your head and your lips, “but your ACTIONS (your heart) are far from me.  “They worship me with their lips… but their hearts (actions, works) are far from me.”

5.  Some Christian’s seek an “easier softer way” of confessing their sins, by using their head and their lips, and unwilling to face and be rid of their sins, will cop a plea to God “Oh God, just forgive me of all my sins…. you know which one’s I’m talking about.”

Careful reading of the New Testament and an examination of one’s own heart, will usually prove that the person who is asking for forgiveness “does know” what sins they have committed… and they are unwilling to face those sins and confess those sins to God.

The 4th Step Inventory Process is for the purpose of “making a list of the things that are and have been blocking you from God.”  If you don’t have a full conscious understanding of the exact nature of the sins that have been blocking you from God, you’re more likely to keep in the path of committing those sins.  In the 4th Step Inventory, you are taking a look in the mirror, at your present, and your past.  You are learning valuable information about yourself, and the specific weaknesses that you need help to “stop doing.”

When Jesus said “Go, and sin no more”… How can you possibly “sin no more” if you don’t know what sins you were doing?  The fact is, that you do know what sins you were doing and the 4th Step provides a way for you to admit and confess those sins.

Step 5, admitting your sins, to God, AND another human being, requires the utmost in humility. 

It’s real easy to think “well, only me and God will ever know about this” and it leaves you in a position where you will a) Never make restitution for the harm that you did, and b). it leaves an easy “escape hatch” open to you, because you’ll rationalize that “Okay, I can do this and only me and God will know about it… I’ll go ahead and do it, knowing it is wrong to do, and will then just rush out and ask God to forgive me.”

This is the kind of “faith” that James talks about as “it doesn’t work that way.”

If you know that you have to fess up to something to another human being, you’re less likely to be doing things in “secret” that you’ll think only you and God know about.

Step 5, is another way of “confessing your faults, one to another.”  and is New Testament Biblically sound theology and doctrine.  It’s in the Bible!

“Be ye DOERS of the word!”  That’s exactly what the 12 Steps teach.

Simple acts of “professions of faith, asking for forgiveness, without repentance and confession and restitution” is not sound biblical New Testament doctrine, and will “avail you little” for the long-haul, in regards to conversion, repentance, restitution, salvation, and a continued daily walk with God, Lord and Savior.

Christians who have a “problem with the 12 Steps” are Christians who have a problem with sound, biblical, New Testament doctrine, and they have a problem of “taking action” on their faith in God to do what’s necessary to have a full and complete conversion experience.

If you think about the metaphor that Jesus used being “reborn” and think it through, you’ll be able to see a major difference in some peoples ideas of an “easier softer method” of spiritual re-birth.

When a woman has a baby, there is much “travail” in pain and suffering, and she must use effort and take actions to complete the process pushing out – and having painful “contractions” (upheavals) for  the “birth” of the child, that is coming forth from her womb. 

She doesn’t just say a simple prayer “God, give me a new kid!” and the new baby pops out!  “Gee!  Look ma, no hands!  Easy, sweet, simple deal!  I just said “God let there be a baby” and a new baby popped out of nowhere!!!  Imagine that!”

The birth of the child is a result of a process of actions that takes place, just like the new birth, “born again” spiritual rebirth is the result of a “process of actions” that must take place by the new believer…. “if” there is going to be a Spiritual-rebirth” and not just an “Emotional-rebirth.”

All of Jesus’ parables dealt with “natural, physical, events and objects” to which his “hearers” could relate to.  They were common metaphors that they could understand on the physical plane, while He was talking to them about “Spiritual events and objects.”

To deny the full implication of the physical metaphors that He was using in His parables, would deny the “common sense” that people would possess, to “understand” the parable.

For Christians who are having a problem with understanding the nature of the 12 Steps, it is suggested that they consider the biblical concepts of  “conversion”.

The 12 Steps are to produce the spiritual equivalent of the “conversion experience”.

Is it possible to be “saved” or “born-again” without experiencing “conversion”? 

Some Christians do believe that they can receive salvation, have the born-again experience, have their sins forgiven, have their personal relationship with God restored and maintain their restored relationship with God, without experiencing the conversion experience. 

Careful reading of the Bible, with line-upon-line, verse-upon-verse, and concept-upon-concept study, this is an unsound doctrine that is not supported anywhere in the New Testament. 

While it is very understandable, that a loving and merciful God, will have patience with His children, as they are sincere babes, desiring the milk of His Word,  just like any parent, Our Heavenly Father expects His kids to grow up, to become responsible, and to study His Word, so that they can rightly divide the Word of Truth and correct their errors.

This type of error in doctrine not only effects the life of the individual believer, it can also have the effect of “the blind leading the blind” … and lead  other potential believers astray.

And, why is it so important that we make restitution, and make amends for the harms that we have done to others?  Couldn’t God forgive us, if we didn’t make amends?  I’ll be the last person to place limitations on God… God can do what God wants to do. 

However, if I applied my own logic to answer this question, it might remind me of encountering a flavor of Christians, whom I’ve had the privilege of knowing, that  became “saved, born-again, full-of-the-Spirit, Bible-thumping, going-to-witness-to-the-world, enthusiastic, thank-ya-Jesus, ain’t-life-grand, people… who want to share Jesus with me, and very conveniently forget about things like stealing my car, breaking into my house, money they stole from my mother, or borrowed and never repaid, bad checks they wrote to my friends business, or slanders and gossip that they had spread…that didn’t have one ounce of truth in it, or sleeping with their best friend’s wife!”  

Yet, now they are all forgiven, and washed white as snow, because they sneaked off in some closet, got religion and God secretly forgave them for all the sins they committed harming others… and in no time, they’re back doing their old behaviors again… and then popping up with the Bible again, just like riding on the Holy Ghost Merry-go-round!

And, is there any wonder… why the lost may not want anything to do with Jesus or with the Church?  Is there any wonder why so many of the lost, who need God’s love, and grace, and power and way of life… want to puke when they hear something like “God will forgive you, too!”

In my opinion, these types cause a reproach against God.  They give Jesus and His Church a black eye.  It’s hard for me to conceive the idea that God will continue to strive long with their actions.  When it comes time to reap the harvest of the sowing, I sure wouldn’t want to be the sower!

As I look over the formula for the conversion experience produced by the 12 Steps, Spiritual Principles that are extracted directly from the New Testament… I can see that this whole problem could have been avoided.  It re-iterates such principles as “If your brother has ought against you…. go… and ask your brothers forgiveness…. then, come back and ask God to forgive you!” 

When you’ve performed a personal and thorough housecleaning, in regards to the harms that you’ve done to others, you’ve confessed the sins to God, to another person, and you have asked the person you’ve harmed to forgive you, and you’ve made direct amends and restitution to them, your actions will speak more than your words… when it comes to witnessing in regards to your faith, or attempting to carry the message of God’s Love and Forgiveness to this person.

There is a real old poem, that I just love… I won’t quote more than the last line of it, because I believe the last line, says it all:  “I would rather see a sermon, than hear one!”

And… one of my favorite verses is:  “Faith without works is dead!”

~Dallas Bowman – March 10, 2006


Posted

in

by

Tags: