- araratchurch
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Last time, we pointed out: “Christians, who believe that they know their “limits” on carnal behavior, are fooling themselves, and making an occasion for the enemy of their soul, to control them. And—make no mistake—the enemy, given any foothold, will, if left unchecked, lead to destruction.”
Everything we need to become like Jesus has already been given us through the Holy Spirit. However, we obviously don’t access all of those things at one time. The process through which we become more and more like Jesus, by accessing more and more of all the Holy Spirit has for us, is called “sanctification.” We will further address sanctification next time. For now, the point we want to make is that, just as all of God‘s glory is in any of His glory, just so, all of carnality is in any carnality. That is to say, even though the foothold we may give the enemy is seen as being very small, maybe even insignificant, any entrance for him and the forces of darkness, gives all of the forces of darkness access to our inner life. This is why we must— rather than trying to “train” or limit our sinful instincts—kill the “old person of sin.” Now, we do not do the actual “killing,” or rendering as dead to us, the sin nature. Indeed, it is the life of Christ in us that will render us dead to the world and the world dead to us. As we have before discussed, the new life, the new creation, was only made possible through the work of Jesus Christ. Just so, the working out of our salvation must be directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Our part is to choose to obey what God has said, and to obey the leading of His Holy Spirit. With that, we must resist inevitable temptation, through the power God has given us by way of Christ’s victory over sin. Consider Paul’s exhortation to the Christians in Rome:
“for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever.”
Romans 8:13 AMP
Let’s revisit a scripture we considered on “Day 1” of “The New Creation”:
“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”
Galatians 6:14-16 ESV
Yes, through the power of the cross we are a new creation who can now be dead to sin. That is, we are no longer under its sway; sin is no longer our boss. But make no mistake, if we grow lax in our choices and flirt with sin, we are willingly giving sin a place to express itself. May it not be so.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 ESV
Next time, we’ll look further into sanctification.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- May 4
- 3 min read
On “Day 2” of our consideration of “The New Creation,” we offered this in referencing the tension of being a new creation, while living in a fallen world:
“Now, we are not so much referring to the weakness of our physical body—although that is an aspect we still must deal with until we receive our glorified bodies—but the weakness of the flesh mind: the way of being and doing that was formed and informed by the world system. So, we struggle. Indeed, this struggle is a product of the fact that there is tension between the new creation and the flesh (unchanged) mind that tries to re-assert itself.”
You may have heard of the concept of “muscle memory.” For our purposes here, we are defining muscle memory, as the ability for the brain to store a series of repetitive behaviors together in such a way that the activity, over time, requires less conscious effort. Of course, this is a good thing when you’re learning something that you want to be able to do with less effort, like throwing a ball, swimming, biking, any number of activities involving movement of our bodies.
On the other hand, muscle memory that was formed in a way that does not produce the best way to do something, becomes a hindrance to improvement in that area. Now, whereas this is true in terms of physical behaviors or activities, this is also true in terms of our thoughts, our reactions, and so on. The carnal or flesh mind, the untransformed mind, has learned a way of being and doing that has strongly been influenced by the world, the flesh, and the devil. As well, individually, our personal experience has affected, or informed, our future reactions. As a new creation, there is not suddenly a tendency toward automatically doing the right thing. Now, this fact can be a great obstacle to our spiritual development. However, as we have before discussed, the Holy Spirit, helps us to develop a Holy Spirit instinct, a Holy Spirit “muscle memory,” where we more and more have reactions that are guided by the Spirit, and less and less are subject to flesh instincts.
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
Galatians 5:16-25 NLT
The fruit of the Spirit, that is, the way of being and doing produced by the Holy Spirit’s active presence in us, over time, becomes more and more, our immediate tendency.
But make no mistake, any tolerance of the old ways of being and doing, will undermine our spiritual development, undermine our life and growth in the Spirit. Christians, who believe that they know their “limits” on carnal behavior, are fooling themselves, and making an occasion for the enemy of their soul, to control them. And—make no mistake—the enemy, given any foothold, will, if left unchecked, lead to destruction.
Using as an example, being angry, Paul gives this instruction to the church at Ephesus:
“So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”
Ephesians 4:25-27 NLT
Next time, we will look further into the ongoing battle for control over our minds, raging between the carnal mind and the mind of the Spirit.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- May 2
- 3 min read
In one of Peter’s letters to fellow believers, he clearly references the requirement—on the part of the believer—to pursue a deeper knowledge of God.
“This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.”
2 Peter 1:1 NLT
Before elaborating further on growing in the knowledge of God, Peter makes clear that through the work of Jesus Christ, we have already been given everything we need in order to become like Jesus.
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”
2 Peter 1:3 NLT
As we have before discussed, the work of Jesus Christ made us able to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And, the Holy Spirit of God, brings with Him the spiritual “DNA” of Jesus Christ.
Notice, even though Peter is talking to fellow Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, he instructs that God has also given us great and precious promises through which, because of which, we can, we must, access the power to become like our Lord.
“And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”
2 Peter 1:4 NLT
As we have before discussed, at one time, we were servants to sin; but now, we can escape the corruption of the world and share in the divine nature.
“For this very reason, applying your diligence [to the divine promises], make every effort in [exercising] your faith to develop moral excellence, and in moral excellence, knowledge (insight, understanding), and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly affection, and in your brotherly affection, [develop Christian] love [that is, learn to unselfishly seek the best for others and to do things for their benefit].”
2 Peter 1:5-7 AMP
As we see in the above scripture, we accomplish adding these other virtues to our basic faith by exercising that faith, by believing that what God has said is true, and by obeying His word.
Indeed, responding to God’s promises by allowing our faith to produce all of the qualities evident in the divine nature, keeps us from falling short of what God has promised us.
“For as these qualities are yours and are increasing [in you as you grow toward spiritual maturity], they will keep you from being useless and unproductive in regard to the true knowledge and greater understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:8 AMP
Sadly, failing to respond to God‘s promises by not allowing our faith to produce these other qualities, renders us useless, in terms of a true knowledge of God. [Remember, it is the Holy Spirit of God Who actually produces the inner work of forming us into the image of Jesus. However, without faith, the Holy Spirit will not, cannot, produce the qualities of the divine nature in our inner person.]
“For whoever lacks these qualities is blind—shortsighted [closing his spiritual eyes to the truth], having become oblivious to the fact that he was cleansed from his old sins.”
2 Peter 1:9 AMP
Those who are not involved in a process of being formed into the image of Jesus Christ, may well forget what God has done, and return to their former ways of being and doing!
Being diligent to make sure we are walking as He walked, will keep us from stumbling from our steadfastness.
“Therefore, believers, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you [be sure that your behavior reflects and confirms your relationship with God]; for by doing these things [actively developing these virtues], you will never stumble [in your spiritual growth and will live a life that leads others away from sin]; for in this way entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly provided to you.”
2 Peter 1:10-11 AMP
And note, our faithfulness toward growing into the full image of Jesus Christ, provides entrance into the Kingdom of God.
Child of God, not only are we a new creation, God has given us the means through which to walk, to live, as a new creation.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!I’m