2002-09-16
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
To a better understanding of what God means by righteousness and His will on the matter, we are led by the Spirit to the Scriptures. Yesterday, I mentioned that many people who have repented and come to faith, don't understand that they can accept that God has justified them-that is declared them righteous in His sight. This problem is due to the fact that we seem to be conditioned from the time we are young children to think poorly of ourselves and to become experts on everything that is wrong with us. We must understand that God's forgiveness, granted at the time we come to faith in Christ and made available to us by the Son's Atonement, is real and eternal. This is not saying that we can't sin or that any sin we commit from that point on will be forgiven. It is saying we are forgiven for all past sin up to that point. What we do from then on to either live righteously or not to is up to us. When one has real faith, he will want to choose righteousnessly and live "in Christ." Weak or non-existent faith leaves Satan an opening to beleaguer our lives and establish strongholds in them.
I am led today to look at the example of the Gentile Ephesians in EPH 4: 17-19 to illustrate my point. "In the Lord's name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to evil and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint." This kind of ideation and behavior conforms completely to what we have already discussed from RO 1: 18-32 and what is seen in 1 COR 2: 14. "Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God's Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them; they are foolishness to him, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis." Having lost all feeling of shame, these people had no consciences. When one studies about the specifics of what they believed and the occult religious practices in which they engaged, the picture is pretty ugly when viewed by God's standards. It is the reason why God inspired Paul to be so adamant in his writing in RO 12: 2, "Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God-what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect."
God made His will for us crystal clear in EPH 4: 22-24. "So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy." Let's look at what is meant by "old self" and "new self." The old self is the personality that is opened to Satan's influence; in fact, it is led by this. The desires of the flesh are its driving force. It's spirit is closed to allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within, and thus closed to the profound understanding of spiritual matters that the Holy Spirit imparts to believers in Christ. Sadly, this old self is on an easy road leading it straight to spiritual death. Satan is in charge, and He loves that. The only hope is that the Holy Spirit can speak to a natural person even though the door to his spirit is closed. When that person opens the door to his spirit, as a result of hearing God's Spirit speak, the Holy Spirit can enter his personality, and his spirit can be born again. If this were not the case, then a person without faith couldn't ever come to faith. The sadness comes when the Holy Spirit speaks to a natural person in his old self, and that person refuses to open the door to God's Spirit.
What hope we derive from PS 145: 18! "He is near to those who call to Him, who call to Him in sincerity." People are to be helped, not shunned. PS 25: 8, "Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He teaches sinners in the Way." The new self arises out of "inward transformation by the renewal of one's mind." It comes when the door to one's own spirit is opened, and the Holy Spirit is allowed to enter. Gradually, the door to Satan's influence closes as one matures spiritually, and God's agenda becomes one's own. 2 COR 5: 17 is a verse I like to cite often, because of the hope that it gives. "When anyone is joined to Christ, He is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come." When we are young in our faith, we must be fed spiritual milk and not meat, because we are not ready for the latter. But, as the new self matures, so the spiritual teaching can more profound. Sometimes this process is delayed by abandoning the faith-building lifestyle [1 COR 3 :1-3]. The author of Hebrews warns against this in HE 5: 12-13. "Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong. Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil." We each need to have the door to our spirit open wide to God's Spirit and firmly closed to Satan's influence. There are times when this is a struggle for us, but God has given us the ability to overcome Satan's temptation, deception, pain, sorrow, and loss. We must each examine our lives to see just how far we have allowed the door to our spirit open for God's Spirit.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before You today, some of us battered from Satan's fiery arrows shot at us, some of us feeling weak and unsure of our faith. We look to You for the guidance we need, to know which decisions we should make and which direction we should go. PS 5: 1, "O Lord, hear me praying; listen to my plea, O God my King, for I will never pray to anyone but You." These words of David's are in our hearts too. We acknowledge the poverty of our spirit and our need to let the Holy Spirit lead us. Satan knocks at the door to our spirits, and You give us the strength of faith not to let him have access to them. We confess in utter humility that we are far from perfect and that we need the strength of Your forgiveness for our transgressions to become more mature in Your sight. You give us great comfort when we learn from PS 32: 8, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye." Furthermore, You tell us in PS 37: 23-24, "The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." Praise be to You, Dearest Abba, Who alone has the wisdom, power, and compassion to take us by the hand and protect us from Satan's evil! We dedicate ourselves to spending time daily in Your word, to communicating with You through prayer, and to looking for the lessons You have for us through the circumstances of our lives. We take full responsibility for our thoughts and actions. You are the first priority of our lives, and we rely on You to take care of us and our beloved family and friends. Our trust and obedience to You lead us to look for ways to spread Your word amongst the weakly faithful and unbelieving population, using the talents You have given us. To You belongs the glory and honor for bringing people to faith and then strengthening that faith. Thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son on the cross and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We adore and worship You. You are to be praised forever! In Christ's holy name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to write about why a sin is no small matter. That may seem kind of negative, but God has made His will clear on this subject. He does give us a way out of sin, so we are not left alone and abandon after sinning when we turn to Him to repent and confess. His wise and loving help is always available to those who love Him. That is a demonstration of the enormous patience and compassion our Lord has for us, as we strive to allow Him to perfect us. Remember that the same loving Abba Who chastises us for our sin grants us salvation through the death of His Son on the cross. He even promises us that we who endure in our faith will follow Him in being resurrected [RO 8: 29; 1 COR 15: 42-50]. So bask today in the warm glow of the Father's love and know that He will always be there for each of us, eager for us to turn to Him in sorrow or in celebration. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn