This is your hour, and the
power of darkness. —Luke 22:53
“Not being reconciled to the
fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the
disasters in life. […] If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is
wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human
beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you
will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. […]
In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to
the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself
trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to
the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see
what this sin would mean.” […] The pure man or woman is the
one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person.” CHAMBERS
Are you tired of the struggle
with your old nature? Your sin
nature? I know I am. Sin can be so alluring, mind numbing,
promising of all of the things that only the Spirit can provide. But sin is toxic, like a cancer, deadly. In Romans 7, Paul described his angst, his
struggle with his sin nature. (Romans 7:14-15,18-19,21-24) “We know
that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do
not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I
do. […]For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For
I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep
on doing. […] So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is
right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging
war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at
work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body
that is subject to death?” Does that
sound like your life? That is a
description of someone who is trying to not sin on their own. We could not and
that is why we needed a Savior. Romans
8:1 – there is not condemnation in Christ Jesus. (Jesus the Messiah)
We are not only saved from
the eternal consequence of sin, but we are also saved from enslavement to
sin. (Romans 8:12-13) “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an
obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live
according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the
misdeeds of the body, you will live.” But
we must live this new life with a dependence upon the Spirit of God. We need spiritual strength to live this
spiritual life, to resist sin. That
strength comes from the Spirit of God who is in each Believer. Do not resolve
yourself to a life of sinning. Don’t
believe that you have no choice. And don’t
believe the lie that somehow you deserve that life. At the root of a sin dominated life is a
heart that is not fully submitted to God.
Being fully submitted does not mean that you will not sin, what that
means is that you will not live your life resolved to the power of sin. You have a choice. But it is a choice that
must be made not just once, but with every thought and every action. And when you do sin, and you will, you must
confess it and God will restore you. CHARLEY
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