We are evil by nature.God said in Genesis that when He looks at the heart of man He sees that our thoughts are continuously wicked. We have a spiritual heart condition. For every spiritual condition there is a physical parallel and expression.
We experience spiritual death the day we are born. Physically we are dying everyday we live. Death in human society is two folds. spiritual death and physical death. Spiritually we are separated from God and the Bible calls us spiritually dead. We spend tremendous amounts of resources protecting our bodies from death because our bodies are temples of Gods Spirit.
Similar or greater efforts should be made to protect our spiritual life because our spirit goes back to God.
Our brains have been conditioned to listen to our hearts.mind).It answers to the desires of our bodily appetites.(hunger, thirst, passions etc. This is the mind that we give the Holy Spirit permission to reconstruct or renew when we accept Jesus as Lord over our lives.
During this process of transformation our worldviews (the way we see view the world and formulate opinions) begin to change systematically. Similar to every construction project it is a process and not an event. We become saved from the wrath of God into the Body and Corporation of Jesus Christ. We are baptized into the Name, Body of believers, and Authority of Jesus. We are presented to God the Father dressed, covered , and cloaked in the Righteousness , or right standing of Jesus and not our own least anyone should have an inclination to boast.
We are saved and made righteous positionally but in experience we are working towards righteousness . We are being transformed into Gods original intent. The Image of God.
Before the fall we knew we were spirit beings mastering the human experience. We have lost our identity and we think we are here to master a spiritual experience. Being baptized with the Holy Spirit, we begin to yield our thoughts and activity to the appetite of God and not out own. We live our lives between the tension of our fleshly needs and the discipline of the Holy Spirit. At this point of our lives we have to consciously begin to starve the appetites of our fleshly wants or needs, and feed the Spiritual nature so it can dominate the flesh. We still sin . We still commit acts of transgression because we are born in sin and that sin nature is still alive pointing us and reminding us of our need for the passion of Christ. We are transgressors because we are sinners . We are not sinners because we commit transgressions. Yes as Christians we sin!but we don't practice sin. We are convicted by the Holy Spirit when we sin and we are compelled to repent. It's the sin and repentance cycle.
As adults we don't stumble and fall like a toddler because we have matured . Likewise we must grow into Christian maturity. Paul in his writings said 'be ye perfect for I am perfect .' Christian perfection is a call to maturity and not flawlessness. As new born babies we long for milk but as adult we Begin to crave for solid foods. We also put away childish things and behaviours and Begin to adopt and experience things as Adults.
We are in a constant war . It becomes the dualism of decision, the conflict of the Word of God and our existential struggle. This war is waged in our minds. The struggle between our human will and Gods perfect will for our lives. The Spirit of God versus our human will . Who will we yield to? Who will we feed and make stronger? Here is what Paul has to say:
Rom 7:18-23 know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn I can't make myself do right. I want to but I can't. 19 When I want to do good, I don't; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. 20 Now if I am doing what I don't want to, it is plain where the trouble is: sin still has me in its evil grasp.
21 It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love to do God's will so far as my new nature is concerned; 23 but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God's willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin.
So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I'm in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free.
As we approach this new year 2010 a year of new beginning most of us have made a resolution to be better Christians. I urge you all to remember this message. you are save by grace and not your own efforts. Do not try to win God's favor through works. do not beat yourself up if you transgress. Repent and move on don't stay down.
Love and Trust God. If we love Him we will sow Spiritual seeds that will yield Spiritual fruits. If we sow in the flesh we will yield fleshly fruits that will lead to our destruction. We are in a love and trust relationship and not a performance and reward relationship. God bless you all and remember Christ is in us in the Whirlwind of the storm.
We experience spiritual death the day we are born. Physically we are dying everyday we live. Death in human society is two folds. spiritual death and physical death. Spiritually we are separated from God and the Bible calls us spiritually dead. We spend tremendous amounts of resources protecting our bodies from death because our bodies are temples of Gods Spirit.
Similar or greater efforts should be made to protect our spiritual life because our spirit goes back to God.
Our brains have been conditioned to listen to our hearts.mind).It answers to the desires of our bodily appetites.(hunger, thirst, passions etc. This is the mind that we give the Holy Spirit permission to reconstruct or renew when we accept Jesus as Lord over our lives.
During this process of transformation our worldviews (the way we see view the world and formulate opinions) begin to change systematically. Similar to every construction project it is a process and not an event. We become saved from the wrath of God into the Body and Corporation of Jesus Christ. We are baptized into the Name, Body of believers, and Authority of Jesus. We are presented to God the Father dressed, covered , and cloaked in the Righteousness , or right standing of Jesus and not our own least anyone should have an inclination to boast.
We are saved and made righteous positionally but in experience we are working towards righteousness . We are being transformed into Gods original intent. The Image of God.
Before the fall we knew we were spirit beings mastering the human experience. We have lost our identity and we think we are here to master a spiritual experience. Being baptized with the Holy Spirit, we begin to yield our thoughts and activity to the appetite of God and not out own. We live our lives between the tension of our fleshly needs and the discipline of the Holy Spirit. At this point of our lives we have to consciously begin to starve the appetites of our fleshly wants or needs, and feed the Spiritual nature so it can dominate the flesh. We still sin . We still commit acts of transgression because we are born in sin and that sin nature is still alive pointing us and reminding us of our need for the passion of Christ. We are transgressors because we are sinners . We are not sinners because we commit transgressions. Yes as Christians we sin!but we don't practice sin. We are convicted by the Holy Spirit when we sin and we are compelled to repent. It's the sin and repentance cycle.
As adults we don't stumble and fall like a toddler because we have matured . Likewise we must grow into Christian maturity. Paul in his writings said 'be ye perfect for I am perfect .' Christian perfection is a call to maturity and not flawlessness. As new born babies we long for milk but as adult we Begin to crave for solid foods. We also put away childish things and behaviours and Begin to adopt and experience things as Adults.
We are in a constant war . It becomes the dualism of decision, the conflict of the Word of God and our existential struggle. This war is waged in our minds. The struggle between our human will and Gods perfect will for our lives. The Spirit of God versus our human will . Who will we yield to? Who will we feed and make stronger? Here is what Paul has to say:
Rom 7:18-23 know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn I can't make myself do right. I want to but I can't. 19 When I want to do good, I don't; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. 20 Now if I am doing what I don't want to, it is plain where the trouble is: sin still has me in its evil grasp.
21 It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love to do God's will so far as my new nature is concerned; 23 but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God's willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin.
So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I'm in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free.
As we approach this new year 2010 a year of new beginning most of us have made a resolution to be better Christians. I urge you all to remember this message. you are save by grace and not your own efforts. Do not try to win God's favor through works. do not beat yourself up if you transgress. Repent and move on don't stay down.
Love and Trust God. If we love Him we will sow Spiritual seeds that will yield Spiritual fruits. If we sow in the flesh we will yield fleshly fruits that will lead to our destruction. We are in a love and trust relationship and not a performance and reward relationship. God bless you all and remember Christ is in us in the Whirlwind of the storm.
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