Obeying God Is Not Natural, It's Spiritual

My Utmost For His Highest

 

Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned… —Romans 5:12

 

“The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away— an infinitely more profound revelation (see Hebrews 9:26). The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, “I am my own god.” This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis— my claim to my right to myself. When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man (see John 2:25).” CHAMBERS

 

That sin you try so hard to resist, you will not be successful.  Why do I know that? Because God had to send His Son to overcome it.  At the root of our sins is our sin nature.  At the root of our sin nature is our desire to be the “ruler of our world”.  (Genesis 3:4-5) “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  The original sin was our desire to be like God … not in His image and likeness, we were created by Him to be like that, but to take His place.  To be in charge, so to speak.  But God wants us to be like the Son (Romans 8:29) who reflects the Father. (John 14:9)  It seems so simple when you read it, but can be so difficult to live.  We can only live our new life successfully if we live it in the awareness of the power by which we must live it. 

 

Our new life is spiritual.  Our old life is natural.  We are drawn to the natural.  We must seek out the spiritual.  The spiritual does not happen naturally.  If you live your life with little thought to the spiritual disciplines, you are in trouble .. spiritually speaking.  Galatians 2:20 says that you are crucified with Christ, nevertheless you live, but it’s not you but Christ in you.  You are sealed with the Spirit.  Jesus is not in your heart, He is at the right hand of the Father as our intercessor and high priest, the Spirit is in you.  The Spirit is what makes the spiritual part of you possible.  Don’t neglect spiritual things .. the Word, prayer, fellowship with other believers … if you do you will find it impossible to live the new life.  Trying to be “good” has its source in the original sin … believing the lie “I can do it, I don’t need God.”  ELGIN