I have been crucified with
Christ… —Galatians 2:20
{CHAMBERS} “The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the
need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional
opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral
verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my
right to myself. […] My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for
living and the nature that rules me are radically changed. I have the same
human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed. “…and the life which I now live in the
flesh,” not the life which I long to live or even pray that I live, but the
life I now live in my mortal flesh— the life which others can see, “I live by
faith in the Son of God….” […] It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith
that transcends all imaginable limits— a faith that comes only from the Son of
God.
{ELGIN} It’s easy for Christians to accept that Jesus overcame sin
and death through the cross and His resurrection. We are about to celebrate that truth in a
couple of weeks. We know that in Christ we
have overcome eternal death and have eternal life. (1
John 5:12) “He that has the Son has [eternal] life, and he that does not
have the Son does not have [eternal] life” But sin? Now that is another
question altogether isn’t it? While we
have overcome the power, the dominion of sin in our lives .. and its ultimate
consequence … we continue to struggle with sin.
On Sunday mornings we may pose for other Christians and give the appearance
of having all together spiritually, but every one of us struggles with the
flesh and our old nature. The temptation
to sin continues to rise up in our lives.
(1 Corinthians 10:13) “There
has no temptation taken you but such as is common to everyone, but, God is
faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond that which you are able to
bear and will, with the temptation, make a way to escape.” Wow!
No matter how I may be tempted there is always a way to escape … to
resist. The question is … “Will I take
it or will I submit to the temptation?”
(Psalm 119:11) “Hide the word
in my heart” so I won’t sin against God. (Joshua
1:8) “Meditate on the Word … and the you will be successful” There is a spiritual dynamic that is available
to every Christian .. the combination of the Spirit in us and the sword of the
Spirit which is the Word of God … If you neglect the Word of God it is like
doing battle unarmed … guess who is going to lose? Think about it!
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