DOMINION IS NO MORE

2Corinthians 1:24
Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

What is Dominion?

Synonyms for Dominion; supremacy, ascendancy, dominance, domination, superiority, predominance, preeminence, hegemony, authority, mastery, control, command, power, sway, rule, jurisdiction, sovereignty.

Dominion can be defined as; dependency on one. It could be in terms of a territory, province which is not if not for the other (colony, protectorate).

It can also be defined as; the power or right of governing and controlling a sovereign authority. The power to rule or control an entity.

Paul wrote about not having dominion over one's faith in the second letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 1:24). You can even realize that when he said this, he had already written so much to the Corinthians in the first letter seeking to guide them in the way of Christ.

But you also note that even in the first letter, he had tried to desist from presenting himself as the infallible and seeming to command rather than to guide. When he gave advice by or from his intuition, he would state it clearly so he could avoid misdirecting the true gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 7:12).

Paul stressed it that he never loved it that their faith rests on the wisdom of men and on the excellence of speech, but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

For Jesus who is the founder and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2) preached the gospel of freedom. It is this freedom which translates into freedom from sin (John 8:34).

The ruins of the Corinthian Church premises

Paul must have been well aware or realized that he had preached a gospel of freedom and grace away from being held under the stringent dictates of the law, not again to subject the Christians to himself as if he had become the law but in a disguised or non-seeming way. For the law demands and if you don't, then it punishes severely.

For the law allows not for the process of transformation. It does not consider if one has knowledge of what to do. For it judges equally (but unfairly) both those in knowledge as those in total oblivion. On the other hand, though, grace says; yes you can, don't be bogged down by what seems impossible, rather dare it. And if you dare it, grace says: "I will add on you strength and you will surely overcome it".

So when Paul wrote this to the Corinthians, he wanted to desist from the connotation that because they (the Corinthians) had been entrusted to him as their spiritual leader, so were they answerable to him. For he wanted them to learn that everything is because of Jesus, and that it is all by the grace in and of Jesus that one can make it to the finishing line.

On this then, Paul sought to reassure the Corinthians that there had been no such attempt and intent as to seem to dominate anyone's faith, but to help them come to the fullness of their joy and of the knowledge of God. So, the Corinthians were not to perceive Paul's guidance as seeking to have dominion over their faith. Yet he was not only to say so, but to be practical as not to seem to have such intent.

Jesus is the Mediator between men and God (1 Timothy 2:5). Meaning Jesus is the only way to be saved and without whom there is no any other form of spiritual salvation (John 14:6). Jesus is the light of the world (John 12:46), (John 8:12). Yet when He taught, He left His listeners freedom and space to think and choose for themselves (Mark 4:9), (Matthew 13:9). For He had guided them and it was up to one to choose what would be befitting to them.

Equally so, as a minister, take it that you can only guide, but you can't dictate anything thereof. For it is by faith in Christ that whoever is Born Again is. Let everyone bear the brunt of their decision making, more so if they have been guided the right way to go (John 3:19). But to play one into something is wrong. So as a minister, desist from seeking to personally influence one's decision making. And avoid spying on one's freedom which comes but with submission to Christ (Galatians 2:4). Freedom in Christ is the clearest indicator that we are of and in Christ (Galatians 5:1). A Christian must desist anything that takes their freedom away which is but to draw them back to slavery.

Why did Jesus come?

Jesus came to set us free (John 8:36). He came to set us free from the stringent dictates of the law (not that we should live lawlessly). For the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus (John 1:17). By whom your faith is, so are you answerable to. Those who adhere to the law of Moses so are they answerable to Moses. That the law of Moses is the lead reference. And so it is that the Pentateuch is by Moses. Yet one who chooses to go for grace and truth is answerable to the one by whom they came and that is Jesus Christ. As that, grace is not by the law and it is not in it that the truth is.

Jesus nailed the law of Moses on the cross

In this, that the law came by Moses, so it is that he dominates the faith of whoever believes in the law. Thus the Jews always referred Jesus to the law of Moses whenever He taught what seemed to be contrary to the dictates of the law of Moses (John 8:5), (Matthew 19:7), (Matthew 22:23-24). But because the truth came by Jesus, He always taught them it was not about the law of Moses but the truth which He was teaching them. It is on this fact that Jesus taught that you can't patch an old cloth with a new one, nor can you put new wine in old skins because they are totally incompatible (Mark 2:21-22), (Matthew 9:16-17).

The hot new wine tears up the old skin bottle.

So then, to seek to dominate one's faith, it is as if one intends to bring back the era and order of the law but in camouflage. For if the law of Moses was used in reference to Moses, so it is that you seek to present yourself as a reference in place of Jesus Christ. That what you haven't said is not and should not be! This totally places you off the balance.

For by the death of Jesus on the cross, we are set free from the curse of the law that we might all who come to Christ share in the blessing which was promised and granted to Abraham (Galatians 3:13-14).

The law is but for sinners (1Timothy 1:9-10). Yet that one is in Christ, they are no longer sinners but are counted righteous by way of having Christ's righteousness imputed to us (Romans 3:21-22, 5:17, 10:4), (1Corinthians 1:30), (2Corinthians 5:21). It is thus counted liberty and more glorious to us that in Christ, we are accountable to none else but to Him who is but our glorious God.

For When Moses delivered the Ten Commandments tablets to the children of Israel, he was pretty covered in the glory of the ten commandments, so that the Israelites could never look him in the face. They covered their eyes so as to avoid direct rays of the shining from him (Moses).

Thus to ask; if the ministration of death and condemnation (which is but the law) was that glorious, how much more exceedingly glorious should the ministration of the spirit and righteousness be? (2Corinthians 3:7-8, 3:9-11). And by implication, how much more will you succeed in the things of God if you cease from tagging your faith on an individual but on Jesus Christ? You will surely go much further!

Moses carrying the Ten Commandment tablets

For to insist on the ministration of the law is to seek to remain blind folded and therefore can't have a clear view of the spiritual blessing we have in Jesus. That the Israelites covered their faces and could not look in Moses' eyes when he descended from the Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments tablets should no longer be held in glory to us who are in Christ (2Corinthians 3:12-13). 

The veil (which covered the Israelites to avoid looking Moses in the face so as to avoid the rays from his shining eyes) still does cover whoever relishes the ministration of the law (2Corinthians 3:14-15). That veil can't be for our spiritual well being. For the mind of such one is blinded so that even when Jesus (by His death) removed that veil (and rose from the dead on the third day), they insist to remain blind to the blessing we receive in Jesus. That veil is until to date on their hearts. Yet that veil should now be done away with that we are in Christ.

The love of Jesus versus the condemnation of the law

That Jesus came, there should be no more spiritual bondage. To insist on the ministration of the law is to seek to keep unsuspecting innocent souls in spiritual blackout and with their hands tied behind their backs. Yet where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty (2Corinthians 3:17). 

So, as a leader in a Christ Church, it is mistaken for you to seek to have a shining of the ministration of the law (as Moses was) so as to restrict people from seeing beyond you. For the ministration of the law hides the state of the inner man, but the spirit searches in the deepest inside of us (1Corinthians 2:10-16). 

For the order of the priesthood of the OT, more so of Moses which was but for condemnation is no more. Yet there is assured mercy and grace in the new order of our High Priest in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:14-15). That is; desist from being a Christian servant and seek to remain in the order of the Moses Priesthood. Do not seek to keep the souls Jesus has set free in continual slavery. For the law is about what God demands, but grace entails what God provides.

So, if Christ has dealt with this, is it you who wants to condition people's faith to yourself? That if you are not, so one's faith is not? We are only by faith in Christ the Savior (Hebrews 10:38), (Habakkuk 2:4), (Galatians 3:11), (Romans 1:17).

Recall that when Jesus gave up the ghost, the separating veil in the temple was torn in between from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). Jesus grants us spiritual freedom. We are because of Jesus (Matthew 1:21), (Colossians 1:13; 2:6-15), (1 Thessalonians 1:10), (Hebrews 12:2). For Jesus is the cornerstone (Matthew 21:42).