Sin in the Christian's Life … Part II

Do you know what I love about the Apostle Paul and his teaching? He wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is. Paul admitted that he had sin in his life; that’s something a lot of people don’t want to talk about. And if you are honest, you will have to fess up to it also. Paul found himself in the same dilemma that we are in yet today … trying to keep our body of flesh under control.

Paul wrote about this never ending battle, the one that goes on inside of us. Our flesh enjoys the physical sensation that our five senses responds to. You know, like … eat, drink and be merry, or if it feels good, do it.

Normal behavior for the natural man is to fulfill the desires of the flesh; but after being born again and making Jesus the Lord of your life, the Holy Spirit strengthens your "will" to follow after God's ways and you learn to start saying no to the sinful desires of the flesh … with the Lord's help.

Being born again is really an awakening of your human spirit within your being that was controlled by the appetites of the unregenerate soul and flesh of your natural man. This body of flesh is never born again. It is only trained to live a new lifestyle by your newly awakened human spirit. The new birth is a spiritual rebirth so to speak, an awakening to spiritual things that only affects the heart of your "will" not your flesh.

The choices, the battles for control are fought in what is called your "soul." There is a misconception that the soul is just another name for your human spirit … the part of you that lives forever. Well, it's not the same thing.

We are a "spirit" and we live in a "body of flesh." Sorry … that's just the way it is. The problem we have is that when these two separate entities are united they create the "soul." The soul is the battleground where the flesh and the human spirit "fight" over which one gets its way, including the control over your actions.

May I say from my observations of life in general, as well as what I have experienced in my own life … the "soul" is tied more closely to the flesh, which includes the mind and the reasoning process, than it is to the spirit of man. It's in the soul where your thoughts, desires and appetites of the flesh, if allowed will grow and develop in strength to the point where they can win the battle and defeat what your spirit, heart and "will" wants to do. And so your body yields to sin.

I love the following portion of Scripture. Paul, in speaking of this battle of the flesh vs. the human "will" tells it exactly as it is … at least as it is with me.

Let the battles begin.

Romans 7:15-21 … "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." K.J.V.

Romans 7:17 … "it is no more I that do it" … Paul is explaining that since he did not approve of what his flesh did, but rather hated what he did, and "willed" the contrary, the opposite in his heart; it was not he as a born again man, a new spiritual creature, that performed the evil deed.

He continues … it was the "sin that dwelleth in me" … the old natural man, the carnal man; it was the evil sin nature that was still present in him rising up. It was the law of sin which not only still existed in him, but dwelt in him, was at home in his flesh, and worked evil in him at times, as it does in all of mankind and will as long as they are in the body of flesh.

That's why he said … "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing." The man of flesh never gets saved, nor can he. It is your "will," your heart and your spirit that the Holy Spirit changes, not your flesh.

When Paul said … "in my flesh" … clearly proves, that he is speaking of himself, and that it was only his flesh and not his … "will" … that the sin nature effected.

Paul intimates by this, that he had something else in him that was not of the flesh; there were good things dwelling in his spirit, in the new spiritual man, the hidden man of the heart. It was his … "will."

Romans 7:19 … "for to will is present with me … For the good that I would I do not" … This is the most decisive proof that the "will" in believers is on the side of God.

Paul's words … "the evil which I would not" … is equal proof that the "will" is against or opposed to evil and sin. The born again will is found to be always the same … it's on God’s side; while the whole sensual system of the flesh is against Him.

It is usually not the will that leads men astray; but the corrupt passions of the flesh which oppose and battle against the will in a man's soul. To state it very plainly … the soul is so completely fallen because it is tied to the flesh, that it has no power to do as the heart wills until it receives that power and anointing from God.

But the soul has the power to distinguish between good and evil; to acknowledge the heart's "will" to do good, but further than this it cannot go. Yet, the "will" is solicited through the temptation of the flesh and consents to sin; and because the soul has "free will" it must possess this power of choice.

Because it is free will it is impossible to force it to sin. Even Satan himself cannot do this; and before he can get it to sin, he must gain its consent. This is the only reason for the battle within your soul … the control of your "will."

May I put the above scripture, which is really Paul's testimony, into my own words and make it my personal testimony as well?


"The bad things that I do, I don't want to do; and the good things I want to do, I don't do; but those things I hate, that's what I do.
But it's not me who does these things but rather it's the sin nature that dwells in my flesh.
I know that there is nothing good in my natural flesh … but my spirit, heart and will to do good is present inside of me … but I can't find how to make my flesh perform the good that my spirit has willed.
The good that I want to do, I don't do; but the evil I don't want to do, that's what I do.
Now if I do the evil that I don't want to do; it's not really me doing it; it's the sin nature within me.
What I have found then is this … when I want to do good, the evil sin nature that is always present in my flesh keeps me from doing good."


So now you know why I still yield to sin every now and then. My flesh wasn't born again when Jesus saved my spirit man living inside of my body. My heart and will have changed, but my soul … well, we do battle once and a while.

This must be why it says in 1st Peter 4:18 that the righteous are … "scarcely saved."


Comments welcome.

Sin in the Christian's Life … Part I

When a man or a woman hears the Gospel message about Jesus (how He came to seek and save sinners) and they accept Jesus as the Lord of their life and experience the new birth by having the Holy Spirit take up residence in their hearts … does this end the sin problem in their lives?

Let me ask this question another way. After a person is born again, do they still have the ability to comment sin? If the answer is "no" … then based on my life, I must not be saved.

The correct answer is … yes, of course they do. Why is that? Aren't you saved from your sin; not saved in your sin? Most of the time, our bodies of flesh causes us to sin; and why is that? It's because our flesh never gets saved. Our hearts were changed, not our flesh, so we keep on sinning; hopefully not as often, but I'm sorry to say … we still sin … don't we?

But … if all this is true, why did the Apostle John write the following in …

1st John 3:9 … "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed (God's) remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Isn't John saying that a saved, born again believer in Jesus … "cannot sin?" I see the word "cannot" in this verse. What does it mean? If the word "whosoever" wasn't used as well, I would think John must have been talking about Jesus. He was born of God and He didn't sin because He was God in the flesh.

But it does say "whosoever" which means anyone who is born again or saved, including me.

I like to turn to the Amplified Bible when I question the true meaning of difficult scriptures such as this one. It helps bring clarity sometimes. The Amplified reads this way …

"No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God's nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God."

Okay … this makes more sense. If you are born again, God's life, light and Spirit lives in you and keeps … no that’s the wrong word … helps you not to practice sinning.

The Amplified has three words in brackets. I want to look at the first two … deliberately and knowingly. I am of the opinion that they should not have been added to this scripture. Even Christians once in a while deliberately and knowingly choose to sin for many reasons. Sometimes they just give in to the temptations of the flesh. This is a whole different situation then habitually sinning.

This third word in brackets belongs there as it goes to the main subject of this verse. "Habitually" means … "a habit of long standing, commonly practiced, a custom." Believers sin … but if I understand this verse right … sinning cannot be our lifestyle. We cannot be habitual sinners.

When John says … "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin" … he means it is not the constant course of his life; he does not live and walk in sin or give himself over to sin. But understand … he is not without it being in him and he is not totally free from acts of sin in his life; but even so … he does not so commit it as to be the servant of it, or a slave unto it so as to continue to live in it as he used to.

And when John said in the second half of this verse … "he cannot sin" … he is not saying that it is impossible for a Christian to sin, nor that it is even possible for such a man to live without sin. And why is it not possible to live without sin?

While it is true that we have been made "righteous" in Christ and have been given His perfection in place of ours; this perfection is not yet in our flesh. Therefore we are not yet free from sin because the sin nature, the ability to sin that has been passed down to us from Adam … is still in us even after the new birth.

But … he that is born of God; "that" which is born of God in him, the "new man" or a new born again "heart" in man … cannot habitually practice sin … his "new heart" won't allow him to, because God's seed and nature remains in him.

Every free will moral agent, that's all of us, has free will; it's called choice. Everyone who is alive, born again or not has the ability to do wrong. So again, when John says Christians cannot sin, he is not saying that it is impossible for them to do wrong in thought, word or deed, for clearly no one could seriously maintain that all of their life.

After all, we are still flesh and blood which makes us human … but that's no excuse. We will be held responsible for what our bodies do.

This is the reason Paul said something like this in 1st Corinthians 9:27 … "I keep my body under subjection … lest I myself should be a castaway." (My translation)

To be continued …


Comments welcome.

O Ye of Little Faith

I always knew that I would someday find a verse or two in the Bible that fits me completely. In fact I want to examine three verses that uses the very same term that describes who I am; maybe not all of the time … but who I am most of the time.

I know who and what I am, I'm … a follower of Jesus. Notice I didn't say … I'm a Christian. Do you know why? The term … "Christian" … means Christ like; and I'm far from that. In fact, sometimes I wonder just how much of a distance I keep myself from Him as I "try" to follow Jesus.

I once heard someone say that the young men chosen by a Rabbi to be an apprentice, a student in training to become a Rabbi, followed so closely behind their teacher that the dust from the Rabbi's feet would be picked up upon their clothing as they walked on the dusty roads in Israel. In fact they coined a phrase that went something like this … "May the dust of your Rabbi be upon you."

I'm not sure if I ever get close enough to Jesus as I follow Him to pick up any of His dust. I have heard the phrase about being left in someone's dust though.

I want to share and speak about the following three verses with you. You will notice in these verses I have high lighted the part that speaks about me in bold print. If you are anything like me … open and honest about yourself … you might even identify just a little bit with the term Jesus used.

This first verse is from what is commonly called "the Sermon on the Mount" with Jesus speaking about the Providential care of God over all His creation, including even some that were unfaithful in His generation.

Matthew 6:30 … "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

Matthew Henry says … "This may be taken as an encouragement to true faith, though it be but weak; it entitles us to divine care and a promise of supply. Great faith shall be commended and shall procure great things; but little faith shall not be rejected, for even that faith shall procure food and raiment. The babes in the family are fed and clothed as well as those that are grown up … but if we had more faith, we should have less care."

Some people have tried to say that Jesus was rebuking those listening to Him about unbelief saying it was His way to gently reprove the general spirit of unbelief that natural men had and still have because we are surrounded by a world of sin and death. I don't think so. If Jesus did anything, He might have chided them because of the amount of faith they used in their everyday lives … little faith. They didn't have much, but it was still faith. It wasn't … unbelief. Unbelief is totally different than faith, no matter the size.

Right after Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, He heals a leper on the way to Peter's house where He heals Peter's mother-in-law; after which He casts out evil spirits and heals all that come to Him along the way to the Sea of Tiberias. I would say that He had a pretty full day. Now a little later and most likely tired, He and the disciples get into a small ship or a large open boat with sails that were commonly used for fishing and headed to the other side of the sea to the area known as either the Gergesenes or the Gadarenes.

It was night by now and Jesus was weary and had laid down to rest knowing they were all safe in the hands of God. But a violent storm comes up with waves that begin to wash over the boat. Afraid, the disciples awaken Jesus, sleeping through the storm that is blowing all around them and they cry out to Him … Lord, save us. So what does Jesus do?

The second verse is Matthew 8:26 …

"And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."

I can replay this very situation in my mind each time a storm of life has tried to sink my ship of faith. The verse right before this one is the one I mainly identify with; the one where the followers of Jesus in the boat cried out … "Lord, save us." Is that your response when you are about to go down with the ship? It should be.

I've tried to rebuke the storm myself, but usually nothing happens … so I cry out to Jesus … and let Him rebuke the storm for me. Why do I do that? Because I am one of those "O ye of little faith" type people I guess. I'm also honest about it.

Like most of us, the disciples were slow to learn. In this first story, it was God who sent them out into the storm with Jesus, to learn from the Lord as He spoke … words of faith … to still the storm.

In this next scriptural setting, it will be Jesus who sends the disciples out into the storm by themselves, giving them the opportunity to speak words of faith as He had just taught them in the earlier storm. But as we also do many times … they failed.

This time, not only were the disciples tested as a whole; the Lord had a special test for Peter and calls for him to step out of the boat. And the test begins … walking on water by faith. But Peter takes his eyes off Jesus … which causes "failure" every time. He starts to sink and once again cries … "Lord save me" … as he did in the first storm.

So again, what does Jesus do? My third verse is Matthew 14:31 …

"And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

What do all three of these scriptures have in common? The words … little faith. But I believe they show a progression of sorts away from even small faith.

In the first scripture Jesus said their faith level was just small … "little faith."

In the second scripture their little faith gave birth to fear; hence the question … "Why are ye fearful?"

In the third scripture, because of the fear Peter's faith level allowed into his life, faith is now replaced with doubt. Jesus asked him … "Wherefore didst thou doubt?"

As Matthew Henry said, there is nothing wrong with little faith as long as it is … true faith … it's just small. I don't know how much faith it takes to move the heart of God. I can't believe it takes much because His great big heart of love is tender towards us or He would not have sent Jesus to die in our place.

I believe there is also a common thread woven in each of the stories surrounding these three verses and that is the complete and total care of God over our lives.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said …

Take no thought about … What shall we eat? What shall we drink? How shall we be clothed? Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

In these other two verses, it is that we are to … trust God even in the storms that come … for God is able to keep you safe. And we are not to forget that sometimes it is God who sends us out into the storm so we can test the size of our faith … be it little or great.

Size doesn't matter. It's what you do with it that counts.


Comments welcome.

Retreat

I wrote this about three years ago. I have held back from posting this story until now … and I'm not really sure why unless I was uncertain about how it would be received. Today, I really don't care if some people doubt what I am about to write. To them I say … "Cannot the Lord Jesus do whatever He so chooses? Every now and then He breaks out of the box we keep Him in. I believe this is what happened here."

I want to tell you about a retreat; but not the type where those in a battle turn and run from their enemy. This retreat is of the type where hurting people or maybe those who just feel weighted down with problems, sometimes just life and all it can do to you … come to receive new hope, or to get an attitude adjustment, something … anything that will pick them up and help them tomorrow and the next day, because they don't want to quit or give up.

All of us, no matter who we are, get depleted of strength, both physically and spiritually. As we use up our food source physically; we also use up our Word source within us spiritually. This is why many churches have retreats. Retreats allow you to get away from everything that is draining you of spiritual strength, by placing you in an environment bathed in love and peace, with teachers that can help you find the restoration needed from the Lord.

A young mother in her mid-thirties went once again to her churches semi-annual retreat for women. She had gone to a couple of them before and had always received new insight, purpose, faith, and new commitment. This time was no different. In fact she received much more then ever before. She had been asking the Lord to let her see into the spirit realm. Now before you start rolling your eyes and thinking, "Oh no, another one of those people who see demons on every doorknob" … let me explain.

The spirit realm is real. God is a Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. It's in the Book. There are also two sides to the spirit realm; a dark demonic side … Satan's realm, and a good side … God's side full of the Light of God where miracles and healings take place. Remember, darkness is just the absence of light. This young mother only wanted to see into God's realm where Jesus works His restoration on and for His own people, believers like she was.

The other women at that retreat were there for perhaps as many different reasons as there were women. But they had one thing in common … they loved the Lord Jesus Christ and not only wanted more of Him, but needed more of the power of God in their lives … just like all of us do, if we would be honest with ourselves.

The spirit realm can't be seen with our natural eyes. It can only be seen in small glimpses from time to time if God opens up our "spiritual eyes" and allows us to see in vision form His glory and power, or the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. All it takes is but a moment in time, but oh, what results God accomplishes in the lives He touches. Some of the women at this retreat will never be the same again. This young mother is one of them.

Let me tell you the best I can of her first glimpse into that supernatural realm we call … "being in the Spirit."

I believe it was the last night of this two day retreat; which night or even the time doesn't matter. After the speaker finished her teaching time, she had the women stand in a large circle so she could minister to them. Since I wasn't there, I'm not sure just how the service proceeded. What I do know from the testimony of this young mother is that she was allowed to see with her spiritual eyes, into this new realm which up to this time had never been open to her like this before.

Jesus showed up.

That's what she said. While the women were praising and worshiping God … Jesus just appeared. He was standing in the middle of this large circle of believers, each one wanting to feel a needed touch from the Master. Just a touch, that's all it would take; some for physical needs, some for spiritual needs, others just wanting to draw closer to the Lord.

She stood and watched in amazement as Jesus went and stood in front of each woman one after another as He went in no particular order from one to another in the circle. As Jesus came to each one, each woman would break into a big smile and their faces would light up in pure beauty as Jesus would touch each face or place His hands upon their heads.

As Jesus walked in and thru this circle; as He went from woman to woman ministering to each one, sparks were flying off of His robe as it touched the floor and as it floated in the air as the Lord brushed by each one of them. Sparks … landing on each woman, lighting up each face, leaving an afterglow; could this be the "Shekinah Glory" that is spoken of in the Word?

One of the women started to dance in a circle, laughing with her arms held straight out in front of her. This was seen at first with the natural eye; anyone there could have and probably did observe her spinning. What the others didn't see was why this woman was spinning around in a circle. Jesus had a hold of her hands, both of them laughing out loud as He was spinning her around in a circle, both of them totally full of joy, free to dance. This was only seen through the gifting of the Holy Spirit allowing her to observe for a few short moments how the Lord gave each one in that circle exactly what they needed.

What I haven't told you yet is that this young mother had invited her older sister to go to the retreat with her. Her sister, standing right beside her kept watching all these other women being filled with joy, seemingly being ministered to by the Lord, but as for herself … nothing. She didn't feel a thing and began to question in her heart … "Is something wrong with me?" She was a believer, filled the Holy Spirit … but yet nothing.

Her younger sister, now watching with both, her spiritual and physical eyes at the same time, saw Jesus with sparks still flying, stop next to her, right in front of her sister. Then, smiling as He looked into her sister's face, (which as of yet didn't show any joy or life because she didn't feel anything from the Lord) He reached out with both of His hands and placed them upon her head. When He did she saw her sister's face just light up, unable to contain the feeling of instant joy and love that Jesus imparted with just one touch from His loving hands.

This makes me wonder what it must have been like to have been touched by Jesus Himself when He walked as a man in the dust of this earth.

Her sister later said that she didn't know what happened to her; that all of a sudden she just felt something come and flow over her … she knew right away it must have been the power of the Holy Spirit. She was surprised to find out later from her younger sister who was watching that it was Jesus Himself who touched her.

Now some would ask me … "Do you really believe that story?"

Yes I do … and I'll tell you why. If you haven't figured it out yet, both of those young women are my beautiful, Spirit filled daughters. I know them. I know the type of lives they live. I know their hearts. God knows their hearts even better than I do.

You see … its hearts like theirs that God loves to fill. God loves to be around them. There isn't anything God loves to do more than to pour His love and power into the lives of those who genuinely desire more of Him. God wants to spend time with us. Allow Him more access to your heart. He wants to share Himself with you.

Was my daughter Tara allowed a glimpse into the spirit realm? Was she privileged to watch Jesus give love and wholeness and restoration to a select few? Yes, I believe she was. It sounds just like Jesus to me.

Tara and her sister Teresa have both experienced something that is available to all believers, which most never receive. And if and when we do receive something special like this from the Lord, we may not even be aware that it may have been Jesus Himself who touched us. But we should recognize His touch, don't you agree?

Anyway, I felt impressed to record what happened to my little girls, now beautiful Spirit filled young Christian women … when Jesus came and touched their lives in a special way.

Thank you Lord …


Comments welcome.