‘Paul
was not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of
the natural to the spiritual. The
natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a
person will lead a divided life. […] Some of us are trying to offer up
spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way
we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is to “present [our] bodies a living
sacrifice . . .” (Romans 12:1).
Sanctification means more than being
freed from sin. It means the deliberate
commitment of myself to the God of my salvation, and being willing to pay
whatever it may cost. If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and defy the
life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This is
always the result of an undisciplined
spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline
ourselves physically, morally, or mentally. […] discipline yourself now! If you
don’t, you will ruin your entire personal life for God. God is not actively
involved with our natural life as long as we continue to pamper and gratify it.[…]’
CHAMBERS
James
1:6 “But when
you ask, you must believe and not doubt,
because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the
wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable
in all they do.”
Living our lives divided in our devotion is a contrary
to God’s purpose and design. It will
always lead to failure … certainly on the spiritual side but on the natural
side as well. Chambers said it will lead
to turmoil in your life. James referred
to believing and doubting. We think we believe,
but by trusting in the things of this world we reveal our lack of commitment to
our new life and confidence in God.
James says that if you are living like that you are unstable.
Turmoil .. unstable … doesn’t sound much like the
life the Jesus called us to does it.
Take some time to read Galatians chapter 5 :16-25. You will see the contrast between the old
nature and the new. You will also see
the source of the turmoil and instability in your life. Now don’t confuse life’s circumstances with
our response to life’s circumstances. Life on this earth offers significant
trials .. but our response to those trials
.. how we choose to live our lives … that is what produces the turmoil
and instability in us.
The world offers enough challenges without us
adding fuel to the fire by yielding to our old nature. . Jesus said “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this
world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Take a look around your
life today. What do you see going on? Proverbs
3:5-6 are verses that I use frequently .. I don’t think they can be over
used because they tell the story so well.
Trust in God and not yourself.
Live for Him and not for yourself. Walk on the path that He has set your feet on
and not on the one that you are creating as you hack your way through the
brambles of life. Peter said it this way
….
2
Peter 1:3-9 “His divine power has given us everything we
need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own
glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and
precious promises, so that through them
you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the
world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness,
knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance;
and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to
mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing
measure, they will keep you from being
ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
whoever does not have them is
nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their
past sins.”
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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